Where Is My Mind?
by The Little Anonymous Author
Summary: After the loss of a loved one down in the Department of Mysteries, Harry and his friends struggle to make sense of their new lives.
1. Chapter 1

"_If I die young_

_Bury me in satin_

_Lay me down on a bed of roses_

_Sink me in the river, at dawn_

_Send me away with the words of a love song"_

_-If I Die Young_

Chapter 1: If I Die Young

Disclaimer: I own the plotline, nothing else.

He was broken… No, shattered…

Just two weeks had passed since Harry, Hermione, Luna, Neville, Ginny, and Ron…had foolishly broken into the Department of Mysteries. The objective was simple: Grab Sirius and get out as quickly as possible. Well, although they had managed to successfully save Sirius, (not that he needed saving) the price they paid was hardly worth it. Sure, Harry was ecstatic to still have his godfather with him…but the loss of that other person…that made it all seem pointless. Without that other person in his life…the one he held most dear aside from Sirius and his other friends…well he just didn't know what to think. Harry snapped. He felt like an empty shell without that person…and he wasn't the only one.

Sirius had tried on more than one occasion to cheer up his godson and get him to move out of the Dursley's. For some reason, however, Harry had refused to leave that horrible place and turned against him. He couldn't blame the teen entirely, though. What bugged Sirius the most was the fact that Harry had decided to punish himself by denying him the happiness of a new home along with a family that would love and take care of him. All of this, he did to himself because he believed he was at fault for what took place on that horrible night. That night which changed everybody's life…and not for the better.

Harry most definitely was not the only one suffering. There were nine others out there who were actually off worse than him. Those people had more of a reason to grieve over anybody else who was there that night…and it was those people that Harry had decided to forever hide from. The shame and guilt was just too much for him to bear. He knew that he would never be able to face them again. Harry assumed they wouldn't mind that prospect either. How could they not hate him after the loss he had caused them? No…he would never show his face around that lot again…

The only thing Harry would allow himself to partake in was Hogwarts. He was about to enter his 6th year and figured that at this point he would be better off finishing his last two years quietly. If he did well academically, he could become an auror and try to make the Wizarding World a better place instead of the worse one he had already created…or at least that's what he thought.

Yes, Harry decided he would attend Hogwarts, steer clear of those he had caused so much pain, and do his best to carry on in the shadows where he would no longer disturb the lives of others.

Afterall, he was the reason Ron had died that night down in the Department of Mysteries. It was him, and him alone, that was to blame for the loss of his best friend, Ginny and the rest of the Weasley sibling's brother, Molly and Arthur's son, and Hermione's other best friend. How he could possibly live with that guilt, he would never know…but he would soon find out.

No matter what anybody else told him…he knew he was to blame. Not a soul could change his mind.

**A/N:**Want the story to continue? Review! It's the only way I'll know if I should keep posting.

I know this chapter was short. The others will not be like that!

This is only the beginning.

Next: The Burrow

Until Then...


	2. Chapter 2

"_You disappear with all your good intentions…_

_And all I am is all I could not mention_

_Like who will bring me flowers when it's over?_

_And who give me comfort when it's cold?"_

_-Flowers for a Ghost_

Chapter 2: Hope Remains

Disclaimer: I own the plotline, nothing else.

"Fred, George, Ginny! Supper's on the table!" Molly shouted for what seemed to be the twentieth time. Ever since the loss of their brother she had a hard time getting her children to eat…let alone leave their rooms for that matter. The Burrow had been disturbingly quiet for the past two weeks and it bothered her to no end. Even Arthur had spent most of his time at the Ministry, staying away from the house as long as he possibly could.

Still, it wasn't like she was her normal self either. Since the death of her youngest son, Molly had spent most of her time in Ron's old room quietly sobbing and reminiscing. She did her best to be discreet about it, but her family could hear her from any part of the house regardless. Her cries were heartbreaking and there was nothing any of the other Weasleys could do to stop them…especially not when they were all feeling the same way.

With a sigh, Molly gave up on her fruitless effort of getting her family to come downstairs and, with a flick of her wand, vanished the food into their rooms. It wasn't as if she really expected them to come to the table anyways. Every night had been spent this way. The children would pick at their food silently in their rooms while she would nibble at whatever was left in the kitchen.

Around 5 o'clock Arthur had finally made his way home. Even though his work day ended at three, he would never come around until much later…and Molly knew why. She couldn't blame her husband, for she would be no different if it were her. Molly would gladly take advantage of getting away from the house for a day. The memories were all too depressing and each day spent in it only brought more sadness upon her. She knew if they had the money she and Arthur would have sold the house long ago…but the reality was, they couldn't…and they just had to manage, as always.

"I left your supper in the fridge," Molly said almost inaudibly as her husband closed the door behind him. She was currently sitting on the ratty old couch they owned in front of their small fireplace while she knitted along with no idea as to what she was actually making.

"Thanks," Arthur replied just as quietly, making his way into the small dining room. "Did you have any luck getting the children to come down tonight?" he asked, hopefully. Sure, he knew what the answer would be, but a man could hope, right? Hope was all he had left these days…

Molly shook her head, "No," her eyes brimmed with unshed tears, "Maybe once they return to school things will start going back to normal." She didn't believe it to be entirely true, but once again, she could only hope.

Setting down the plate of food that he really had no intentions of eating, Arthur sat down next to his wife. "Do you think we should invite some of their friends over?" he asked, "I mean, if we get Harry, the Grangers, the Longbottoms, and the Lovegoods here it might help them to sort their feelings out. They could all talk about what happened that night and may even be able to find some closure," he suggested.

Somewhat uncharacteristically, Molly shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know…if we couldn't get any of them to attend the funeral, how could we possibly expect them to agree to come over?"

"Hermione attended," Arthur corrected.

"Be that as it may, you know as well as I do, Arthur, that none of those children would want to come over here. Even if their parents were to come along, I don't believe they would want to. Nothing would change their minds. It's just too soon," she decided.

"Molly," he sighed, "It's been a month now. We can't allow this behavior to drag on forever. We're the adults so I say that we should get the other parents involved here to make things right again. What could it hurt?"

"I don't know, it's just-"

"I think it's a good idea," two identical voices interrupted from behind them. Molly and Arthur turned around to see Fred and George standing at the bottom of the staircase with their unfinished dinner plates in their hands.

"Are you done eating?" Molly asked as she went to grab the plates from them. Nodded responses were all she needed to begin washing them as Arthur gestured for the two boys to take a seat.

"So, you two wouldn't mind if we invited some people over?" he asked his sons.

They shook their heads, "No," George said.

"If anything, it'll help Ginny to get some of the pain off her chest," Fred added.

"Us too," George agreed.

"Venting with the others," Fred said, "Would help all of us, really," George concluded.

"Then it's settled," Molly told them as she made her way back into the living room. "Go upstairs and send Errol off with the letters inviting Harry, Hermione, Luna, Neville, and their parents over."

"Well, except Harry's parents, right?" George kidded for the first time in weeks.

Fred gave his twin a small nudge while their mum shook her head in mock-disappointment. How could she really be upset with that rude statement when it was the first time her sons had smiled in such a long time?

"Just go upstairs, boys," she half-smiled. "We'll go and fetch Harry tomorrow if we have to," she added, remembering that his relatives weren't known to let him come and go as he pleased…that and the fact that he had no means of transportation.

After they had gone upstairs, Arthur turned back to his wife, "Tell me again," he started, "Why is Harry still living with those muggles? I thought Sirius would be taking him in now that his name has been cleared," he questioned.

"Honestly, I don't know. Sirius owled me quite a few times saying that Harry seemed a bit out of sorts. I hadn't given it much thought, though. I figured it was only to be expected given," she cleared her throat, "well, given what happened."

Arthur nodded in agreement, "Well, we'll just have to ask him about it tomorrow, then. Maybe we should invite his godfather over too. That way he'll finally get to talk to Harry in person."

"Yes," she replied, "We will do that," Molly walked over and wrapped her arms around her husband, "But for now let's just head to bed. It's been a rather long day," she sighed. What days weren't long anymore?

**A/N:**Please let me know if you'd like me to continue and I will post as soon as I'm able.

Next: Hermione, Neville, and Luna receive their letters.

Until Then...


	3. Chapter 3

"_If I only could,_

_Make a deal with God…_

_Get him to swap our places._

_Be runnin' up that road_

_Be runnin' up that hill_

_No problem"_

_-Running up That Hill_

Chapter 3: Calling All Shattered Ones

Disclaimer: I own the plotline, nothing else.

Hermione Granger sat on the wooden stool in front of her massive piano. She felt so small compared to it…She felt incredibly small compared to just about anything lately, actually.

Since Ron's death, she had felt so lost and confused. Hermione usually had some sort of control over everything in her life. If she didn't have control over the matter, she at least had the time to brace herself for whatever was going to take place. For example, when Ron was prepared to sacrifice himself in order for Harry to be able to rescue the Sorcerer's Stone, she at least knew what was about to happen. She didn't like it, but, still, she knew. Knowledge was everything to Hermione…and she most definitely did not see her best friend's death coming. So, nobody, not even her parents, had been successful in consoling her. It wasn't surprising, though. Hermione had just lost one of her best friends of five years and there was not a single thing she could do about it.

So, for the time being, the young Gryffindor sat in front of her piano, playing it lifelessly, hitting random keys, not finding it in her heart to form any sort of rhythm.

"_Ron asked me what a piano was once,"_ she thought to herself, _"and I never told him…" _silent tears began to make their way down her cheeks as she stared on, blankly. Her parents stood at the doorway, their heart breaking at the very sight.

Jean was about to step forward and break the silence when a small letter was suddenly pushed through their mail-slot. Curious, Hermione's mother walked over and picked it up, _"Mail on a Sunday?"_ she thought as she went to break the seal.

Even though Hermione had taken no notice, her father was just as curious and soon joined his wife to see just what the piece of paper said.

_Dear Hermione, Mrs. and Mr. Granger,_

_Fred and I (the Weasley twins in case you forgot) were wondering if the three of you would be willing to visit the Burrow tomorrow afternoon. Our mum thought it would be nice to get a few of Ron's old friends together to talk about…well, you know. We think it would help everyone to get some things off their chests and to try and move past this. (If you're wondering who 'we' is, Fred and I are also inviting the Lovegoods, Longbottoms, and Harry)_

_(Fred here) Please let George and I know as soon as possible if you will be coming. All you need to do is write your response on the back of this letter and Errol (the owl probably sitting outside of your door) will bring it back to us. _

_We would really like to see the three of you, so please do try and make it. _

_Hope to see you soon, _

_Fred and George Weasley_

"What do you think?" Jean asked her husband, "Should we take her?"

He looked back over his shoulder to where his depressed daughter currently sat and soon after nodded his head. "I think it would be best. She could use some fresh air and interaction."

Also looking at their daughter, Jean agreed, "I'll write our response. Will you go and fetch the owl?" she asked, not at all wanting to touch the large bird. The idea of tying a piece of paper to its foot did not sound at all appealing.

Her husband merely smiled, "Of course, darling." He then made his way outside with absolutely no idea as to how he would catch the darn thing.

...

Dirigible Plums. Luna currently sat outside her house trying to harvest them. Unfortunately, the small Ravenclaw was having absolutely no luck in doing so. She supposed the reason was because picking these plums took a great deal of concentration and her mind was currently elsewhere. Her father seemed to notice her troubles as well. After several moments of watching his daughter struggle, Xenophilius walked outside to help.

"Is everything quite alright, sweetheart?" he asked as he made his way next to her.

Luna nodded her head, "I should think so," she told him, "but I don't…"

Xenophilius sighed. He hadn't seen his daughter acting this way since her mother's death. He had hoped he would never have to again…

"Why don't you head inside and start a pot of tea?" he suggested, "It appears as though it will be raining shortly," he added.

Despite the fact that the sky was entirely clear and the sun was shining brightly, Luna made her way back inside, and just as her father was also about to enter their house, a brown barn-old flew over and landed upon his shoulder.

"What have we here?" he asked the bird while untying the letter from its foot. Errol simply nipped at his ear in response once he began to read it.

As it turned out, the Weasleys wanted to have them over for tomorrow afternoon. Being that they lived just over the hill and more so that his Luna desperately needed to get out of the house for a while, Xenophilius quickly responded, agreeing to pay them a visit.

...

Over at the Longbottom residence, Neville could be found out in the backyard tending to his garden. His Gran had tried getting him to go to Diagon Alley with her, but he had refused. Lately, he hadn't been up for going out anywhere. Actually, Neville would have been perfectly content with just staying either in his room or out in his garden until the next school year started up. After what happened over at the Ministry of Magic, he couldn't find it in his heart to face the Wizarding World again. He was ashamed.

Neville simply could not get over the fact that he once stood in the same room as Ron, forced to watch as the red-head died at the hands of his parent's tormenter: Bellatrix Lestrange. If he thought he hated that woman before, well now…now he truly despised every fiber of her terrible being. Just the thought of that pathetic death-eater had caused the Gryffindor to viciously attack the innocent patch of sunflowers in front of him.

Augusta Longbottom watched sadly as her grandson brutally hatched away at his small garden. It didn't matter what she told the boy, he had yet to manage getting over his friend's death. She hadn't even been able to get Neville to attend the other boy's funeral. It was quite unfortunate.

Moments after stepping out onto the patio to look after her grandson, a small letter dropped from the sky and into her hands. Looking up, Augusta saw what she knew to be the Weasley's owl. Wondering what they could possibly need or want, she opened the piece of parchment.

The old woman did not even hesitate in writing her response to Fred and George. One look at Neville was all it took to reassure her that he needed to be amongst his friends. It didn't even matter what the boy wanted. Both Neville and Augusta would be leaving for the Burrow tomorrow, and that was that.

**A/N:**Please Review! It's what keeps me updating.

Next: Harry reacts to a letter from the twins.

Until Then...


	4. Chapter 4

"_With your feet in the air_

_And your head on the ground_

_Try this trick_

_Spin it…yeah_

_Your head will collapse,_

_But there's nothing in it_

_And you ask yourself:_

_Where is my mind?"_

Chapter 4: Time Spent in Vain

Disclaimer: I own the plotline, nothing else

Harry sat in Dudley's second bedroom flipping through the small photo album Hagrid had given to him at the end of his first year. Luckily, his aunt, uncle, and cousin had gone out for dinner so he was being left alone for once. Unfortunately, that only gave him more time to think of last month's events which, in turn, brought more depression upon him. _"If that were even possible,"_ he thought to himself.

After glancing at the picture of his parents, Harry turned the page over to see himself standing in the snow at Hogsmeade with Ron and Hermione at his side. The trio was laughing hysterically at something Ron had said, and Harry couldn't remember just what it was...not that it really mattered, though. The fact that he was with him in this picture was what broke Harry. He would have given anything to take Hermione's time-turner from third year to go back and save his best friend…oh, how he was tempted. If it weren't for Dumbledore, Hermione, and the Order talking some sense into him that night, he probably would have tried. The fact that he would have probably driven himself mad in the process didn't bother him in the least…it still didn't, quite honestly. Harry would sacrifice anything to bring Ron back.

The boy sighed. For now, all he could do was stare at old pictures and try to distract himself with the never-ending list of chores the Dursley's provided for him every summer.

Several depressing photos later, Harry decided to get up off his raggedy bed and go fetch himself a glass of water before his 'family' came home and ordered him to sleep.

As he was about to turn the corner after the last step on the staircase, a small letter flung itself through the mail-slot of the front door. Knowing that mail most certainly did not come on Sunday's in the muggle world, Harry quickly snatched the letter and went back into the room he came from. If Uncle Vernon were to find out his nephew was corresponding with what he liked to call, 'those freaks,' he would be in for it. Despite the fact that whoever this was from had addressed him first, it didn't matter. Even with Hedwig locked away, his uncle wouldn't believe that he was innocent.

After closing the door and pushing his desk-chair in front of it (for extra measure) Harry opened the piece of mail only to find that it was from the Weasley twins.

At first, Harry wanted nothing more than to just rip it up. He assumed whatever they had to say would either be something along the lines of, "we hate you now," or, "it wasn't your fault so don't feel bad." Either way, Harry wasn't interested in reading it (even though he inwardly knew it would read the latter of the two). Despite himself, however, moments later Harry had read the short letter only to again wish that he hadn't.

"_Why would they want me at their house? Ron's gone…so what business do I have over there anymore?" _he asked himself.

Harry spent at least half an hour going over the possibilities of what the Weasley's could want with him. The twins had said they were inviting others, but didn't say who in his letter. He assumed it was for a reason, but that didn't matter. Harry already decided to decline their invitation. Besides, it wasn't as if he didn't want to go and see them (he told himself), he actually had a valid reason as to why he wouldn't be going over there. Many valid reasons, actually. Firstly, the Dursley's would never allow it. Secondly, he had too many chores to do, plus the schoolwork he had yet to start. Thirdly, he had no way of even getting there. And lastly, if by some miracle he was allowed to leave for the afternoon, he would most likely not be allowed back. So, no, Harry would not be going. End of story.

He turned the parchment over to write exactly that, only to find more words. _"Great,"_ he thought. It read:

_Oh, and P.S. – Mum and Dad will be coming for you around eleven tomorrow morning, so be ready. See you then!_

_Fred and George _

Now desperate to write back telling them what a horrible idea that would be, he quickly wrote that he couldn't possibly attend and that another time would be much better. _"Like in a few years, maybe,"_ he thought.

Running back down the stairs and opening the front door to where he expected Errol to be, he witnessed the stupid barn-owl flying off, probably back to the Burrow.

Harry crumpled up the letter and put his face into his hands…What was he going to do now?

The next day came all too soon for Harry's liking. It felt like a mere matter of moments had passed between the time he held the twin's letter and now, where he currently stood making breakfast for the Dursley's.

He was so distracted that he had already burnt the toast twice and had dropped three eggs. Fortunately, his uncle was running late and hadn't paid much attention to Harry, so he didn't see any of this happen. The only down side to that was the Weasley's were still coming over in several hours and even though Uncle Vernon wouldn't be home, he still would be in a million times more trouble over that then what he would have been over some spilt food.

With each ticking second that horrendous cat shaped kitchen clock made, Harry's heart sank more and more. It was already eight thirty a.m. _"Only two and a half more hours until I die,"_ he thought to himself, wishing the statement was just a sarcastic, over-dramatic one…but it wasn't. He would more than likely be done for when the two full grown wizards popped onto his Aunt Petunia's clean swept doorstep.

11 o'clock: the time was finally here. As if on cue, Molly and Arthur were suddenly knocking upon their door. Now Harry's heart really began to race.

"I'll get it!" he tried, only to be pushed aside by his aunt.

"Don't be foolish," she told him, "Get back to the garden. I don't want the neighbors to see you."

Her nephew sighed, _"I wish it was the neighbors…" _he said to himself, making no indication that he would be going off to the garden as Aunt Petunia ordered.

With a glare directed at Harry, she finally turned to face the door, and with a welcoming smile, opened it.

**A/N:**The more reviews, the sooner I post!

Next Time: Petunia get's some unwanted visitors leaving Harry in an awkward situation.

Until Then...


	5. Chapter 5

"_In times of confusion, and chaos, and pain_

_I'm there in your sorrow_

_Under the weight of your shame_

_I'm there through your heartache_

_I'm there in the storm"_

_-Times_

Chapter 5: Take Me Home

Disclaimer: I own the plotline, nothing else.

"Hello, how may I-" Petunia began. She abruptly stopped her greeting, however, once she saw who exactly was currently standing on her doorstep.

"Get away from my house!" she shrieked before Harry, Arthur, or Molly could say anything. "It's bad enough that I have to be around you lot when I pick my ungrateful nephew up from King's Cross every year," she hissed, "The last thing I need is for more freaks to follow us home." The brunette then went to slam the door in their faces, only to be stopped by Mr. Weasley's rather large foot.

"I'm sorry that this may be coming as an inconvenience for you," Molly said as the other woman was forced to keep the door ajar, "But we told Harry yesterday that we would be coming for him at this hour. Didn't he tell you?" she asked, clearly ignoring the 'freak' remark made towards her.

"_Lovely,"_ Harry thought. _"Make things worse, why don't you?"_ He still remained behind his aunt, barely able to see the two red-heads over her tall shoulder.

"As a matter of fact, he did not," she stated, looking back at her nervous nephew, "That being said, I am afraid that he will not be going anywhere. He is much too busy," she continued, not lying entirely. It was true, Harry did have many chores.

"So, goodbye," Petunia concluded, and again, went to shut the door. She really shouldn't have been surprised when it didn't work out again.

"Look," Molly went on with her motherly tone, "I'm terribly sorry that Harry didn't tell you we would be coming by, but since my husband and I are already here, we would appreciate it very much if you would allow him to come with us."

"_If looks could kill, Mrs. Weasley would have been dead long ago,"_ Harry said mentally as his aunt gave her a yet another death-glare.

"Fine," his aunt spat, "Take the brat if you must," she grabbed Harry and brought him forward, "But I do not want to see him again until the next summer when I have no other choice." Before the other three could interject, Petunia had her nephew out the door and had finally managed to slam and lock it behind him.

"That went rather well," said Mr. Weasley as the other two stared wide-eyed at the previously opened door.

"I, um…" Harry began, "There's a way for me to get back in around back," he said quite pathetically. "I'll just-"

"Nonsense," Mrs. Weasley placed a firm hand upon his shoulder, and with a wave of her wand, all of his belongings appeared next to them on the doorstep. "You're more than welcome to come stay at the Burrow for the rest of the summer," she gave the skinny teen a small squeeze, "You could use a good meal, by the looks of it," she gave Harry a warm smile which only confused him further. He knew the Weasley's were decent people…he just hadn't expected their forgiveness so quickly.

"Are you sure? Because-" It was now Mr. Weasley's time to interrupt him, apparently.

"Harry," he started, "What happened that night down in the Department of Mysteries was not your fault," Arthur now stood beside his wife, facing the raven-haired boy, "I know you'd like to believe that it is, but it's not. You know it's not, as does everybody else. Feeling guilty isn't going to accomplish anything. It's time to move on," Mr. Weasley finished, looking him in the eyes as if to make sure his words had sunken in.

However, before Harry could respond, Mrs. Weasley had summoned and shrunken his belongings, taken his hand, and disapparated the lot of them to the Burrow. His decision had been made for him.

**A/N:**Sorry for the short chapter!

Still, please Review to let me know what you thought of it.

Next Time: Harry is forced to face the last person he wanted to see.

Until Then...


	6. Chapter 6

"_When I've lost who I am_

_And I can't understand_

_Why my heart is so broken…_

_Rejecting your love"_

_-Shattered_

Chapter 6: When I've Lost Who I Am

Disclaimer: I own the plotline, nothing else.

Upon arriving at the Burrow, Harry was practically attacked by Hermione.

"Harry!" she shouted only moments before engulfing him in a nearly painful hug. "How have you been?" Hermione asked as soon as she had released him.

"Alright, I suppose," he shrugged. "A bit out of breath at the moment," he smiled at her.

Hermione's face turned pink, "Sorry, I just haven't seen you since…" she didn't finish her sentence, not that she needed to. Ever since that night, hardly anybody finished what they were trying to say when it came to Ron.

Harry shook his head, "No worries. When did you get here?" he asked her, trying to change the subject.

Taking the hint, she went along with it, "Only ten minutes ago, actually. I arrived just after Luna did."

"Luna?" Harry stopped in his tracks. He and Hermione were following Mr. and Mrs. Weasley inside, but once he remembered that the others had been invited, Harry moved no further. "Who else is here, Hermione?" he asked her.

Staying behind with him, she replied, "Only Luna, Neville, and myself," she reassured him. "Our parents are here as well, along with Fred, George, and Ginny, of course."

Harry nodded his head, still not eager to head inside the Burrow. He knew he was being an idiot. Deep down he knew that nobody blamed him for what happened to Ron, yet that did nothing for how guilty he currently felt. He still didn't like the idea of facing everybody else again.

"Come on, Harry," Hermione gave him a warm smile and gently tugged on his arm. She didn't want her only best friend to feel so terrible. Being that he was basically all she really had left, Hermione felt almost as if it were her duty to make sure he stayed sane. She knew that if anything were to happen to Harry she would fall entirely to pieces. Without both Ron _and_ Harry, she would surely go mad herself.

With that horrid thought in mind, Hermione continued building Harry's confidence in order to finally get him inside the house.

The two Gryffindors were but a few meters away from the front door when Sirius barged through it. Unfortunately, that only caused all the progress Hermione had just made to vanish, thus resulting in Harry running in the opposite direction.

"Harry!" she shouted, about to chase after him. Sirius, however, prevented her from doing so and decided that he should be the one to talk with the distressed teen. And once he got Hermione to reluctantly agree, he ran in the same general direction as his godson, determined to get through to him.

"Harry?" Sirius asked quietly as he rounded the corner the younger boy had previously turned. "Are you out here?"

Sighing, as he did not receive a response, he then decided to use his Animagi dog-senses to sniff Harry out.

…..

It didn't take very long for Sirius to locate Harry after that. Somehow, the teen had managed to climb up into the highest tree that surrounded the Burrow in only a few short seconds. He knew that if it weren't for his canine senses, Harry would have never been found…at least not anytime soon, that is.

Thanking Merlin once more for his lucky Animagus form, Sirius slowly began to climb the tree that led to Harry.

"Hey there, kiddo," he greeted his godson as he had finally gotten himself onto the same branch. Luckily, it was a rather thick one that would easily be able to support the two of them.

Harry looked over at the other man and sighed. When he climbed this massive tree he had hoped not to be found…especially by the person who had managed to.

"Look, Harry," Sirius started, beginning to lose his patience with him, "I know you've been through a great deal this past month, but you need to realize that what took place was completely out of your hands. What happened had absolutely nothing to do with you. If we're pointing fingers here, well then the ones to blame would be my deranged cousin for the loss of your friend and Voldemort for luring you there," he went on, "And with that said, like you, I am not at fault here either, Harry."

The younger Gryffindor looked at his godfather in sheer confusion. "Nobody's accusing you," he told him, "So, what are you getting at?"

"What I'm 'getting at', is the fact that _you _are blaming me," Harry tried denying it, but Sirius continued before he had the chance, "Maybe not purposely," he added, "But subconsciously, you are."

He shook his head, "No, I'm not," Harry firmly stated, "and your being a prat for even suggesting otherwise. Just because I don't want to talk to you, doesn't mean that I'm blaming you for anything," he huffed.

Sirius stifled a laugh, "Then give me a proper reason," he pried, "as to why you don't want to talk."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Not everything has a reason!" he said, starting to get annoyed. All he wanted was to be left alone for once.

"Everything has a reason," Sirius replied in a calm voice. "You seem to get on with Hermione just fine," he pointed out, "Even Molly and Arthur are able to communicate with you without having to worry about you running away."

"I didn't run away," Harry looked in the opposite direction of his godfather, no longer wanting to face him.

"Yes, you did," he said, not planning on backing down this time. "But I don't care about that right now," Sirius said, "I just want you to talk to me, Harry."

"What do you think we're doing?" Harry snapped, "You followed me all the way up here and ever since we have been doing nothing but talking. You should be happy about it instead of using this time to annoy the hell out of me!" he crossed his arms, thoroughly angered now.

"A one-sided conversation is hardly talking," Sirius reasoned, "Everything I've been trying to tell you for the past five minutes has been ignored," he was starting to lose his cool, "Don't you see? I want you to be able to confide in me, Harry. You should be able to talk with me about anything, yet you've been avoiding me like I haven't taken a bath in weeks!"

Harry couldn't help but to laugh at that, and instead of becoming frustrated, Sirius was glad. He hadn't seen that smile since the boy had visited him at Grimmauld Place last Christmas.

With the tension broken, Sirius took the new formed silence as an opportunity to try and talk with his godson once more, "Have I done something wrong?" he asked. It was a bit childish, but he honestly needed to know and wasn't sure if he had screwed up at some point without realizing it. Afterall, the whole godfather scenario was entirely new to him being that he was locked away for most of the younger boy's life.

Harry just shook his head and looked down at his lap. His previous anger seemed to have shifted into sadness again.

"Can you tell me what's on your mind?" he asked, shifting his weight as he did so. Sitting on an old wooden branch high up in an oak tree wasn't exactly comfortable.

The teen took a deep breath before finally opening up, "It's just," Harry shifted his weight as well and faced his godfather, "Ever since Voldemort showed me those false images of you being tortured, I've been terrified of losing you," he admitted, "And when I thought I actually was, I only ended up losing somebody else that I never expected to…"

Sirius nodded his head. It was all starting to make sense now. "So, you think that if you start to get too close to anybody, you'll end up getting hurt again?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I suppose…"

"Look," Sirius scooted closer to him and wrapped an arm firmly around his godson's shoulders, "Letting somebody in, having friends that care about you, loving and confiding in others…these are all good things" he told him quite honestly. "Keeping your feelings bottled up isn't, just as running away from the truth isn't." He sighed. "You need to learn how to separate the good from the bad a bit better, kiddo."

"But everything that's supposed to be good ends up leading to me getting hurt one way or another," Harry quietly replied.

"It's supposed to," Sirius said quite bluntly. At Harry's confused look, he elaborated, "Anything in life worth living for comes with its ups and downs. Like, with weddings, you have your occasional divorces. With love you have a few heartbreaks…and with life you encounter death at some point," he gave Harry a squeeze, "Even if it's sooner than you expected to."

Finally, Harry gave him a genuine smile, "You're right," he nodded his head, "I know you are…It's just going to take me some time to get passed this…" Again, Harry looked away, but this time it was in shame.

Carefully, Sirius took his chin and turned his face so that he could meet his godson's emerald eyes with his own. "Nobody expects anything less, Harry. Everybody else, including me, feels what you're feeling right now," he gave Harry another short squeeze, "You aren't alone," he finished.

His eyes brimmed with tears; Harry nodded his head and rested it upon his godfather's shoulders.

"So," Sirius said several moments later, "Will you come live with me now?"

Harry could only laugh.

**A/N:**Please, let me know what you thought of this chapter!

Next Time: Harry and Hermione visit a place that holds many haunted memories.

Until Then...


	7. Chapter 7

"_Promise me this:_

_That you'll stand by me forever,_

_But if God forbid, fate should step in_

_And force us into a goodbye _

_If you have children somebody_

_When they point to the pictures_

_Please, tell them my name"_

_-Long Live_

Chapter 7: To The Place He Once Belonged

Disclaimer: I own the plotline, nothing else.

After finally agreeing to move in with his godfather, Harry and Sirius made their way down the rather large tree and into the Burrow.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Hermione asked as she got up from her spot on the couch beside her parents and walked quickly over to him.

Harry nodded his head, "Yeah," he smiled, "I am now."

Hermione smiled back just as Sirius decided to announce, "Harry's decided to move into Grimmauld Place!"

The teen couldn't hide his embarrassment as everybody in the room began to clap and congratulate the two. Noticing this, Hermione rubbed his back as a small means of comfort. Although it was unexpected, Harry was quite grateful for it. The small contact soothed him. He genuinely hated being the center of attention, and apparently, she knew that.

"Hello, Harry," said Luna once the cheering had died down. Harry had momentarily forgotten about Luna and Neville also being there so her appearance slightly surprised him.

"Oh, hey Luna," he greeted the short blonde, "How've you been?"

"Quite honestly? I've been better," she admitted.

Harry immediately felt guilty again after that. It wasn't like Luna to be so blunt about her feelings and he couldn't help but to feel that he was to blame for her sadness.

"I was just recently bitten by Ginny's pygmy puff, you see," Luna pointed at the small bite mark on her hand, "It wasn't very pleasant."

"_Oh, Luna,"_ Harry thought as he lamely tried to hide his smile. That wasn't exactly what he had been getting at when he asked her about how she felt. Still, her answer amused him and took away the guilt that was originally thrust upon him.

He cleared his throat, "I'm sorry to hear that," Harry told her with the most sympathized tone he could muster.

Fortunately, Luna took his apology seriously, "Oh, it's alright. Arnold is just a bit feisty, that's all."

Harry nodded his head before noticing Neville come up from behind the younger Ravenclaw.

"Hey guys," Neville gave them a lopsided smile. It was evident that the other boy was a bit nervous. The lot of them hadn't talked since the loss of their dear friend.

"Are you alright, Neville?" asked a concerned Hermione who still stood at Harry's side.

He looked down, "I'm really not the one you should be asking," Neville gestured over to where Ginny sat in between the twins on the floor in front of the fireplace. It had been bewitched to provide no heat being that it was currently the middle of summer. The orange flames were merely lit for decoration.

"I tried speaking with her earlier," Luna spoke up, "But all I got was a bite from Arnold…"

Harry didn't feel like laughing when the blonde brought that up again. The look on his friend's face was all too depressing. Fred and George seemed to be trying to talk Ginny out of her sad state of mind, but didn't appear to be having much luck.

"Should I go talk to her?" Harry asked hoarsely. He really didn't want to face any more Weasleys. He felt incredibly grateful that the first two he encountered didn't blame him, but he didn't feel like the other three at the Burrow wouldn't. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were adults, afterall. Their maturity probably had most to do with their polite attitudes towards the raven-haired boy. With that said, he definitely wanted to avoid the other red-heads. Underage magic restriction or not, Harry didn't want to take the risk of being hit with one of Ginny's infamous bat-bogey hexes.

"Harry, calm down," Hermione ordered. "She isn't angry with you, nor does she blame you for what happened."

"_Always the voice of reason,"_ Harry thought to himself before replying, "I don't-"

"Harry," she said, with more force than before, "_Nobody_ blames you. When are you going to get it into your head?" The brunette looked like she was going to slap her friend any second now.

"Do you really think that, mate?" asked Neville, stepping forward a bit.

Instead of answering his friend, Harry backed away. The last person to call him, "mate," was…before he could think any further, the smaller boy bolted, once again, from the room.

Hermione sighed at the disappointed look on Neville's face. "Don't worry," she told him, "I'll be right back. Why don't you talk with Luna for bit?" she suggested before taking off after her best friend.

Still feeling guilty, Neville did as he was told and turned to face the other girl. "So," he began, but Luna cut him off.

"I missed you, Neville," she said while looking at him most sincerely. She had a genuine smile strewn across her face while all Neville had managed was a look of utter surprise.

"Um, I um…" he began stuttering. The Gryffindor always did that when he became unsure of himself. Well, that and his face usually turned an unnatural shade of red; which it had.

"You don't have to say anything," Luna stopped him, "Besides, I best be off. I believe I heard father calling for me just moments ago," she squeezed his hand and gave him one of her dreamy smiles before merrily skipping away.

And again, poor Neville was left stunned.

"Harry, are you in here?" Hermione asked as she entered a darkened room. This had been the last door she tried searching, and it was for a good reason. It was the last place she wanted to be. This place held far too many memories of her late friend's…and that only made sense being that the small bedroom she walked into was once Ron's.

"Harry?" she asked again, turning on the lights to better take in her surroundings. Upon doing so, she caught her friend staring at Ron's nightstand. On it, she noticed, was a picture of the two males that had been taken just several months ago. The moving photo showed the two former best friends partaking in a round of wizard's chess. They were both laughing as Ron took out Harry's knight, causing a rather loud noise that pulled Hermione away from her studies. It was how the picture came to be. Because her two best friends refused to keep it down while playing their game, Hermione had decided to snag a few shots of them. It wasn't like she could concentrate on anything else at the time. Besides, it was such a happy moment that Harry and Ron shared, she couldn't possibly allow it to be forgotten.

"I don't think I ever managed to beat him," Harry quietly replied while still gazing at the small picture.

Hermione merely shook her head and walked over to him. "I wouldn't doubt he ever expected you to," she managed a small smile.

Harry let out a small laugh and picked up the frame. "Do you think Mrs. Weasley would mind me taking this?" he asked her. "I never got a copy and seeing as he…" He stopped himself before stating the obvious. It was much too difficult to say aloud.

"I wouldn't mind at all, sweetie." Both Harry and Hermione turned to see the eldest Weasley woman standing in the doorway.

"Mrs. Weasley," Harry abruptly set the picture down, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come here. I just-" he started rambling only to be engulfed by one of Molly's motherly embraces moments later.

"You listen to me," she said sternly. Molly took the young boy's face into her hands, forcing him to look at her, "This is your room too. Every night you visited us was spent sleeping in here. Just because things have…changed, doesn't mean you aren't allowed to come in."

Harry sighed as Mrs. Weasley released him. Despite what she told him, he knew that reentering this room would not be happening again. He felt the same as Hermione did. Ron's old bedroom just held too many memories. Harry hadn't been thinking clearly when he came up there in the first place.

"Now," Mrs. Weasley snapped Harry out of his thoughts, "Why don't you pocket that picture and head back downstairs," she said as more of an order than a request. "Ginny, Fred, George, Luna, and Neville are all waiting for you to join them in the backyard. Arthur and I want you kids to talk for a bit while we adults prepare supper and discuss important things of another matter, alright?" she asked as Hermione led Harry out and onto the small staircase. He just nodded his head and allowed his friend to drag him away. The last thing he wanted to do was join the rest of them to talk about their 'feelings'. Harry had a sinking sensation that it would not end well.

**A/N:**So, what did you think?

Please, keep me updated on your thoughts!

Next: Harry has a long and heated discussion with Ginny

Until then…


	8. Chapter 8

"_Do you have to?_

_Make me feel like…_

_There's nothing left of me"_

_-Skyscraper_

Chapter 8: I Will Not Be Silenced

Disclaimer: I own the plotline, nothing else.

Walking into the backyard, Harry found Ginny, the twins, Luna, and Neville all sitting beneath the tree both he and Sirius had previously sat upon. The boy-who-lived truly wanted nothing more than to head back inside and, if he could, disapparate back to Privet Drive where he could hide away in his cousin's second bedroom. Going back to his deranged family actually seemed nicer than currently being at the Burrow. And that was saying something.

"Come on, Harry," Hermione urged him further out onto the yard. "She refused to let her friend run away a third time. Twice was two times too many in her opinion.

With a sigh, he reluctantly followed the bushy-haired girl and took a seat in between Luna and her beneath the shade tree.

"It's nice to see you again, Harry," said Luna with a warming smile. Harry felt grateful towards the blonde who decided against bringing up his embarrassing earlier actions.

"Yeah, you alright ma-…Harry?" said Neville, quickly catching himself before making that mistake a second time. Unlike Luna, he clearly felt the need to bring up the fact that Harry had been a foolish coward.

"He's fine, Neville," stated Hermione with much firmness laced through her voice. "How've you three been?" she turned and asked the Weasley siblings, changing the subject. Hermione currently sat in front of Ginny who remained between her two brothers.

"Well," started George, "We've been better," went on Fred, "But things are starting to get back to normal around here," George told her, "Thanks for asking," Fred finished. "How have things been on your end?" asked the other twin.

After looking back and forth so much because of Fred and George's annoying way of speaking, Hermione gathered her thoughts and replied, "Like you, we've been better. Mum and dad have been trying to get me out of the house," she looked down at her hands in her lap, "If it wasn't for your invitation I probably would have never left my house this summer," the brunette declared, sadly.

"We understand," Fred reassured her. "What made you change your mind to come over here, though?" asked George. "We thought for sure that none of you would be willing to show up today," Fred concluded, looking towards the others in their little circle.

Neville timidly raised a hand, "My Gran actually forced me to come," he answered. "I would've stayed out in the garden without really leaving my house either if it weren't for you two…" he then became flustered, "Not that I'm blaming you guys or anything," he blurted out, "It's nice to finally get out and be around other people, even with everything that-"

"Relax, Neville," interjected Luna as she placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. The small action only made him redder in the face than before. He looked in the opposite direction, away from her compassionate eyes, and didn't respond.

Stifling a laugh, George broke the awkward silence, "It's alright," he told the younger boy, "We get it," Fred added.

"What about you, Ginny?" Hermione piped up. She had yet to get a word out of the younger girl and she was starting to get worried. "Are you okay?"

The youngest Weasley merely looked down, holding onto the silence she insisted on keeping. Ever since she and her brothers had returned home, she only opened her mouth to eat or brush her teeth. Not once had she spoken a word to any of them, despite their efforts of getting her to do otherwise. After so much time had gone by, without any other choice, the rest of the family reluctantly gave up.

Hermione sighed, "You know if you keep everything bottled up like this-"

"'Mione, let it go," the twins said simultaneously. "It's no use," Fred told her. "We've been trying to talk to her ever since we got back," George sighed. "But she refuses to say a word," Fred stated. "She's been writing back and forth with Dean, though," the other twin gave a small smile, "Even though she won't talk with her family," Fred went on, "It's good that she's at least talking with someone out there."

"Dean?" Neville asked before Hermione could respond, "As in Dean Thomas?"

The twins nodded their heads, "Yeah, he wrote to her at the start of summer," George replied, "And they've been corresponding ever since," Fred finished.

Ginny remained sitting in silence while they spoke as if she wasn't there. Normally, being ignored like that would have bothered her to no end. Now, however, she could care less. The only one she felt comfortable opening up to was Dean. They had gotten rather close towards the end of her fourth year at Hogwarts. He proved to understand her like no other. Ginny felt safe around him and knew that she could tell him anything without being judged. Even though she knew her family wouldn't judge her either, Ginny just felt better talking with Dean over anybody else. He had tried to change her mind about that, though. The older boy wanted her to take comfort in her family as well, but Ginny refused. She just couldn't find it in her heart to speak with them yet. Ron was the last Weasley she spoke with and he was the only Weasley she wanted to be with right now. She missed her older brother so much that it literally put her at a loss for words. The young girl was practically a mute.

Harry couldn't help but to feel bad again at Fred and George's words. He knew exactly how Ginny felt at the moment. He hardly spoke a word to anybody after returning to Privet Drive. The only time he said anything was when Aunt Petunia asked if he'd completed his daily chores. Other than that, he was silent.

Deciding that it was time for both he and Ginny to stop carrying on like that, Harry stood up and looked down at the girl, "Ginny, will you come with me for a moment?" he asked quietly. Everybody else in the group refrained from interfering, hoping that she would agree to go along with him.

Fortunately, Ginny agreed and took Harry's offered hand. Once she made it onto her feet, Harry led her back inside the house and into the currently vacated living room. Then, sitting down on the couch, Harry gestured for the young girl to join him.

"Look," Harry started, "I don't expect you to say anything," he admitted, "But I do know what you're going through. When I first got back home, I hardly said a word. I knew that no matter what I said or did, I couldn't change what happened that night down in the Department of Mysteries. So," Harry went on, "I guess that's why I chose to not say anything at all. I didn't see the point in talking if it wouldn't fix the situation," he sighed. "But after your parents came for me and after I spoke with Sirius, I realized that it's just time to move on and accept the fact that I can't change the past. No matter how much I'd like to, there's nothing I can do about it. And not talking isn't going to solve anything. Not venting to others will only make things worse," he said, remembering what his godfather had told him. "It's great that you're writing to Dean, Ginny, but it's your family that you really need to open up with. They need you," he said honestly, "and you know you need them too. Together is the only way all of you will be able to truly get past this," Harry took a deep breath before finishing, "You know Ron wouldn't want you acting like this."

At those words, Ginny's head shot up. Nobody had tried that tactic with her yet. It angered her. "Don't you dare bring Ron into this!" she yelled at him. "You don't know what he would or wouldn't want anymore!"

Now, it was Harry's turn to become slightly angered, "Yes, Ginny, I'm afraid I'd know _exactly_ what he would want. Ron was my best mate for five years!" his voice started to rise, "He definitely wouldn't want you walking around like some sort of zombie just because he's…no longer here," Harry choked out. "And he was _your_ brother!" he accused, "You of all people should know what I'm saying is true. Don't deny it simply because you want to carry on in self-pity!"

Hearing the rather loud commotion, all of the adults stepped inside from the kitchen and the rest of the group entered from the backyard. Before any of them could stop the two, however, Ginny retaliated, "_Self-pity?_" she spat, "Are you really that daft enough to believe I'm feeling _sorry_ for myself?" she got up causing the other teen to stand as well. He wasn't frightened in the least bit. Bat-bogey hexes or not, he wouldn't allow Ginny to keep on like this. He owed it to Ron to see that his sister moved on with her life.

"If I'm daft for believing the truth, then yes, Ginny, I'm incredibly stupid!" he responded, "Do you see anybody else moping about the house or locking themselves up in their rooms, hiding from the world?" he questioned.

When the other girl didn't reply, Harry continued on, "No, you don't," he answered for her. "It's okay to grieve and mourn over your losses, Ginny," he said, lowering his voice now, "but this is just getting ridiculous."

The room fell entirely silent after that. Ginny had stepped away from Harry, but made no other signs of leaving. Arthur decided to take this opportunity to speak up.

"Harry's right, sweetheart," he told his daughter, "We need you back in our lives," Mr. Weasley walked over to the now teary-eyed girl, "One child lost is more than enough, wouldn't you say?" he tried getting her to see reason.

Ginny didn't argue or pitch a fit of disagreement this time. She knew what her father said was true. The youngest Weasley even recognized Harry's words as the truth. Now, Ginny simply felt terrible that it took her so incredibly long to come to terms with what had happened. While she was wallowing away in her bedroom over something everybody else had to deal with too, the rest of her family was left to worry for her. One Weasley lost was one too many, she agreed. Ginny now felt extremely selfish for her actions. She had only been thinking about herself since they returned.

"I'm sorry," she said almost inaudibly as both her mother and father now approached her. She was about to say more, but her parents, for once, wanted her to remain quiet.

"It's perfectly fine, dear," Molly said, wrapping her arms tightly around her one and only daughter. "It just took you a bit longer than the rest of us."

Ginny merely cried into her mother's blouse while her father rubbed soothing circles onto her back. Her two brothers came over as well, and each placed a comforting hand upon her shoulders.

Surrounded by the warmth of her family, the youngest Weasley cried herself to sleep. Finally, she had released all of those terrible thoughts and horrible feelings that plagued her since Ron's death. Ginny was now set free from all of the silence.

"I'll take her upstairs," said Mr. Weasley once he realized his daughter had fallen asleep in her mother's arms.

Molly smiled warmly and nodded her head as her husband gently lifted Ginny and made his way up the stairs.

Just like her first year of Hogwarts, thanks to Harry, her daughter was back.

**A/N:**Okay guys, so that concludes chapter eight.

Let me know what you thought!

Here's some answers to your questions on the last chapter:

H. JaneGranger: Sorry if you didn't like the moment between Luna and Neville and the fact that I'm having 3 different relationships going on throughout the story. However, I did mess up on the summary. Snape and Narcissa will not be a couple. They are only going to be good friends and that is for a reason that will be pointed out later. And no, Luna never said she was going home. Anyways, if you don't see yourself enjoying this, you don't have to read it. I don't want you to take up time reading something you dislike. Thanks for your review though.

Anonymous: That's actually a really good idea…Thanks!

TsukiyoTenshi: That's okay. I'm just glad you like the story. Thank you for the review!

And to the rest of you, thanks so much for letting me know what you think so far. Your reviews make my day :) So, please keep them coming!

Next: The group finally begins to move on.

Until then_… _


	9. Chapter 9

"_My eyes are painted red_

_The canvas of my soul_

_We're slowly breaking down again_

_Today, I heard the news_

_This story's getting old_

_When will we see the end?_

_Of the days we bleed_

_For what we need_

_To forgive, forget…_

_Move on"_

_-Only One_

Chapter 9: Letting Go and Moving On

Disclaimer: I own the plotline, nothing else.

After Ginny was taken upstairs, Harry, Hermione, Neville, Luna, and the twins decided to finish their conversation and headed out into the backyard once more. The adults, in turn, went back into the kitchen to finish preparing supper along with their earlier discussions regarding the Order.

"So…" said Neville rather awkwardly. The embarrassingly loud scene that had previously taken place was still fresh in his brain, making him at a loss for words.

"That was incredibly kind of you, Harry," Luna jumped in, preventing Neville from making a fool out of himself.

"Thanks," he replied with a sheepish smile. He had actually felt guilty for shouting at Ginny like that. Even though it helped his friend in the long run, Harry hated making others angry…let alone causing them to cry, for that matter.

"Seriously, Harry?" Hermione asked with a look of disbelief upon her face. "You aren't honestly feeling guilty over what you did, are you?" she gave him a searching look, even though she seemed to already know the answer.

Harry was slightly shocked that Hermione knew what he thinking. Then again, the girl had always been able to read him like an open book. It made Harry both happy and concerned that another person knew him so well.

"I just don't like having to yell at others, 'Mione," he told her. Harry remembered raising his voice to both her and Ron when he first saw them last summer. He had been so angry for being left in the dark about the Order and everything that he lost his temper….and Harry still felt bad for that.

"You're kidding me, right?" asked Fred, who was soon followed by his twin, "We would've shouted at our sister long ago if we thought it'd get through to her," George admitted. "You did well, Harry," Fred said, "Ginny isn't angry with you," George reassured him, "And Mum and Dad couldn't be happier," the other twin stated, "You finally brought Ginny back to the land of the living," George slightly kidded. "I know, right?" asked Fred. "We thought she'd forever be a mute," they said simultaneously.

Harry, along with the other three teens, felt somewhat dizzy after having to look back and forth between the two boys so many times. The way they went about holding a conversation was most annoying.

After Harry gathered his thoughts he finally acknowledged them, "I guess," he shrugged, "I'm just glad it helped."

Hermione placed her hand on his shoulder, "You did help," she smiled at him, "And that's all that matters."

Harry smiled back at his best friend before continuing on with their discussion. "So, I suppose we're expected to talk about what happened…" he told them with sadness laced through his voice. This caused Hermione to keep her hand exactly where it was.

"That's what my Gran said I was coming here for," Neville agreed, looking away in the process. He wanted the same thing as everybody else in their circle did. And that was to never bring that night's events up again.

"My father said the same to me," Luna told them. She then decided to take Neville's hand into hers as if to let him know he wasn't the only one who agreed with Harry on this depressing matter.

Neville merely smiled up at her, rather than become flustered like he did the last time the blonde had tried to comfort him. He also squeezed her hand to prove he was perfectly fine with this small act of affection. The Gryffindor actually found it surprisingly soothing as she drew circles on the back of it.

Giving the two a warm smile, Hermione decided to begin speaking about the touchy topic. "Firstly," she began, "I want it understood that nobody here is at fault for what happened," the brunette looked at the others and kept doing so until she got nods of agreement. "Now," she went on, "To state the obvious, we can't change what happened and there is nothing we can do to fix it," Hermione said knowingly although she had a disappointed look on her face. "We can, however," she said firmly, "Work together to get past this and eventually let go of…it," the Gryffindor finished, deciding at the last moment not to mention her deceased friend's name quite yet.

"I agree with Hermione," Neville decided to take his turn at this point. He felt a bit more confident with Luna now holding his hand, "Living in the past is one of the worst things you can do," he said, remembering what his Gran had been telling him for the previous two weeks. "No matter how much I hate Bellatrix Lestrange," he spat the Death Eater's name, "I know holding onto all of that anger will only give them greater satisfaction," Neville noted, referring to Voldemort and his followers, "When I learned how my mum and dad wound up in St. Mungo's," he blinked several times to avoid getting emotional, "I became furious and wanted nothing more than revenge on her. It wasn't until after my Gran explained that was exactly how they wanted me to feel that I was somewhat able to move on. I didn't want to give Lestrange the upper hand by allowing her to impact my outlook on life based on what she and the others did," he looked down. It wasn't until Luna squeezed his hand once more that Neville continued, "So, being hateful isn't the right thing to do. As long as we stick together and keep level headed, we'll end up on top. When it all comes down to it," Neville said with much sincerity, "We will win." He then added, "But that's only as long as we don't let them get to us. We can't allow them to get into our heads."

Harry immediately agreed at this. Having known what it was literally like to have someone messing with your head, he completely understood what the other boy was saying. "Neville's right," he nodded at the other Gryffindor, "Allowing another person to influence your thoughts will only lead to your own destruction," he said firmly, "If I hadn't allowed Voldemort to control my mind last year, none of us would have been at the Ministry that night." Hermione was about to scold her friend once again for blaming himself, but Harry prevented her from doing so. "I'm not blaming myself," he told her, truthfully for once, "I'm just stating a fact. I know that it wasn't my fault for believing Sirius was in danger," he sighed, "But it _was_ my fault for allowing Voldemort to control my feelings. He used my weaknesses against me and almost turned me into a bitter person," Harry felt a chill go down his spine as he remembered just how angry he had been all last year. Luckily, Hermione kept a firm hand upon his shoulder which snapped him out of his thoughts. Giving her a look of appreciation, he kept on, "So, as I said earlier, Neville's right. If we let what happened affect our personalities by allowing it to cloud our minds, then we'll be useless when the real battle comes our way. All of that hatred will keep us from seeing the bigger picture, which is to defeat Voldemort," he looked around the small circle to see his friends looking at him with much admiration, "Sure," Harry said, "Avenging Ron will be an added bonus. But we have to keep in mind that going after Bellatrix isn't the main point," he said with a tight voice. Saying his late mate's name was still not an easy thing to do. "Because if we focus solely on her, we _will_ lose," Harry finished with a sad expression.

"You're entirely correct, Harry," Hermione told him as she gave him a small pat on the back before drawing her hand away. The fact that he missed her touch surprised Harry, but he knew now was not the time to dwell on it. "Don't feel bad for stating the truth," she reassured him.

"Yes," Luna spoke up, "It's important to stay sane in times like these," she said with all seriousness. Although what she said was right, the entire group couldn't help but to laugh hysterically. Loony Lovegood telling them to keep their heads out of the clouds was extremely ironic. Harry, Hermione, and the twins just couldn't keep from throwing themselves into a fit of giggles. Neville, at least, had the decency to respect Luna's words, despite how amusing it was. How he was able to do that, his friend's didn't know, but Hermione had her suspicions.

"Okay, okay," Fred breathed out. "Back to what Luna said," George wiped the tears from his eyes. He had laughed so hard that he began to cry. "Although she's-" Hermione gave Fred a stern look, which kept him from insulting the Ravenclaw. "She's right," George took over for his brother. "Now that we've all acknowledged that," he told them, "let's get back to the main point of this conversation."

George then looked around the circle they had formed to see all of the desperate looks, begging for him to just drop it…but he couldn't, "We need to talk about Ron," the twin finally said.

"I miss him…" Luna admitted almost inaudibly. Neville returned her previous comforting gesture and squeezed her hand tightly. The blonde gave him a small smile before Hermione broke the silence.

"He was a good friend," she nearly whispered. "He always knew exactly how to make me laugh…and cry for that matter," Hermione added before letting out a small laugh. The rest of the group did as well.

"You two did fight a lot," Fred added. "Why was that?" George asked.

"We had hardly anything in common," Hermione said in all honestly, "I think half the reason we remained friends for so long was because of Harry," she looked over at him, "He always helped us to get past our silly arguments," Hermione then gave him an upmost sincere look, "We each cared for him so much that we were willing to put up with one another," she let out another small laugh, "It was because of Harry that I gained a second best friend. Without him there to make everything right again, I probably never would have been able to see the goodness in Ron."

Harry had to gather all of his strength to stop himself from turning into a teary-eyed pansy at her words. He knew that without him standing in the middle of his two best friends, they would have ended up clawing each other's eyes out. The only difference between Ron and Hermione's relationship compared to his and Malfoy's was that deep down, they truly cared for one another.

"You know," Hermione broke her friend's train of thought for what seemed to be the hundredth time. Harry didn't mind her doing that when he was thinking negatively, but it was otherwise quite annoying. "I never thought I'd say this," she admitted, "But I actually feel sorry for Lavender."

"Lavender Brown?" Neville inquired.

Hermione nodded her head, "Yes," she gave him a sad smile, "She was quite fond of Ron and I even believe that he liked her as well," the brunette's eyes suddenly filled with tears, "It's horrible that they never got a chance to be with each other…"

Harry immediately felt bad at Hermione's look of distress and felt compelled to comfort her. So, without giving it a second thought, he gently pulled Hermione closer to where he sat and drew her into a warm hug.

Hermione's shock dissipated rather quickly, for just a few short moments after Harry did that, she buried her face into his shirt and wept.

After watching the two Gryffindors with much concern, the twins decided to voice just how they felt about the death of their youngest brother.

"He was the only Weasley who actually agreed to test our products," Fred recalled with a surge of pride, "Not once did he turn us down." George spoke next; as he always did once his twin began speaking. "He really trusted us," he concluded with a small smile. "I just wish we could've been there when it…" Fred choked on his words. "We wish we just could've been there that night," George saved his twin the trouble of having to continue.

"Why?" Neville faced the two, still holding tightly to Luna's hand, "There's nothing you could've done to stop what happened. If you _were_ there in the Department of Mysteries with us, you'd be wishing you weren't right about now," the younger boy then looked down in shame, "I'd give anything to be able to say I wasn't there that night. Having to watch…" Neville shuddered at the memory. Instead of squeezing his hand again, Luna wrapped her arm around his waist. Slightly surprised, the Gryffindor only decided to place his arm around her shoulders, which caused the petite girl to lean into him.

"We're sorry," the twins said together, "We didn't think about that."

"Don't worry about it guys," Harry said, still comforting Hermione, "It's understandable that you'd want to be there. To think you could've prevented it…well that's normal."

Each sibling gave a sheepish smile, glad that their friend understood what they were really trying to say. As they then looked around at their friends, each twin's smile grew considerably larger. Seeing the relieved expressions and comforting actions that surrounded them, they started becoming genuinely happy for the first time in the past two weeks. Finally, everything had been let out and Ron's friends had started the process of moving on.

**A/N:**Fill me in on your opinions so far, alright?

Here are some answers to your previous reviews:

H. JaneGranger: I see what you're saying and I'll be sure to give that some thought. Thanks for the review.

Artur Hawkwing: Don't worry, you will soon!

TsukiyoTenshi: Yes, it's definitely not going to happen overnight.

The Good Child: I'm glad you're really enjoying it so far!

5ky1ark: Your review made my day. Thanks so much! I hope this story continues living up to your expectations.

And to everyone: Thank you for reviewing! Please keep me updated on your thoughts and opinions. They can actually have an impact on how it'll all turn out.

Next: Harry receives an unexpected gift for his birthday

Until Then…


	10. Chapter 10

"_I'm coming home,_

_I'm coming home_

_Tell the world, I'm coming home_

_Let the rain…_

_Wash away_

_All the pain of yesterday"_

_-Coming Home_

Chapter 10: An Unexpected Gift

Disclaimer: I own the plotline, nothing else.

The remaining weeks spent at the Burrow had been good to Harry. He wasn't neglected or forced to do any sort of chore. The boy was surrounded by those who genuinely cared for him, and it helped him cope with the loss of his best friend quite nicely.

Sirius had been somewhat disappointed when his godson declined his invitation of spending the rest of the summer with him. Harry apologized, of course, and informed him that he was needed amongst the Weasleys. They were all still grieving and having small teen with them helped with the healing process.

Harry was definitely not being used as some sort of substitute for Ron no longer living there. He had made sure of that from the start. It was the twins, along with Ginny, that had begged him to stay. Harry provided a good distraction from thinking about their late brother, just as the Weasleys did the same for him. Besides, Harry balanced the quidditch teams whenever the teens decided to go out and play, as well.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had also reassured Harry that being amongst his friends would be best at the time. Even Sirius agreed that having the social interaction of kids his own age would benefit Harry after what had happened. Still, that didn't stop his godfather from visiting every weekend.

Now, with only one day left until it was time to return to school, everybody who was there when Harry arrived had come back. Sirius, Hermione, Neville, and Luna all returned for a very special occasion. The only new faces at the Burrow were Dean Thomas (much to Ginny's delight) and Seamus Finnegan. They had all gathered around, despite his many protests, to celebrate Harry's sixteenth birthday.

"Happy Birthday, Harry!" his friends finished singing just moments before the now sixteen year old wizard blew out the candles on his enormous snitch-shaped birthday cake.

"What'd ya wish for?" Seamus asked him.

"He can't tell you," Luna interrupted before Harry could say anything. "If he does, it won't come true," she explained to the older Gryffindor.

Hermione just beamed at her friend who looked rather amused watching Luna and Seamus awkwardly communicate. She hadn't seen him this happy in a long time. With all of his friends and adoptive family celebrating him, Harry momentarily let go of every burden and bad feeling he'd been holding onto.

…

"Alright," Mrs. Weasley announced once she had finished washing the last of the dishes. Cake had been served long ago and she now felt it was time to keep the party going. "Everybody, gather around," she told them loudly enough so everybody would hear. "Time to open presents!"

At this, all of them immediately cheered and ran over to the dining table where the gifts were strewn out. Harry, however, became embarrassed once again and walked slower than the others on his way to the other room. Whenever he was the center of attention, he couldn't help but to become slightly nervous. Noticing this for the second time since her friend had arrived at the Burrow, Hermione walked back over to him.

"Come on, Harry," she took his hand in reassurance before bribing him to follow her, "If you hurry up I might consider joining the rest of you in a quidditch match this evening." Hermione absolutely hated flying, but figured since it was her only best friend's birthday it wouldn't hurt to get on a broom just this once.

And knowing just how much the other girl feared heights, Harry literally ran into the room and joined the others. He had been trying to get Hermione to fly with him since his second year. Each time he asked, however, she had turned him down, saying that she had flown quite enough throughout her first year at Hogwarts with Madam Hooch. Even then, the Gryffindor was basically being forced to fly against her will. If she wasn't being graded on it, Hermione most likely wouldn't have even touched the thing she'd rather use to sweep the floor with.

Slightly regretting the promise she made, the brunette still laughed and took off after her friend to see what he received for his birthday.

…

"Wow," Harry said as he pulled out an extremely large book about everything quidditch. He had never seen or even held such a heavy text before. And after spending countless days and nights with Hermione in the library doing homework, that was definitely saying something.

"Thanks 'Mione," Harry beamed at her. Despite the fact that he generally hated having to read, he knew it wouldn't be the case with this book. Anything having to do with flying fascinated him. Not once had he even thought about looking for books on the matter, though.

"I love it," he reassured Hermione before getting up to thank her with a hug.

It was obvious that her friend was genuinely pleased with the gift she selected, and she couldn't have been more relieved. "You're welcome, Harry," Hermione said softly upon returning his embrace.

After that, the teen resumed opening the remaining presents.

From Seamus, he had received a broom-servicing kit for which he was most grateful. He had been in desperate need of a new one.

Dean had given him a gift certificate for Eyelops Owl Emporium so that he could pick up some new treats amongst other things for Hedwig. Harry found this to be most thoughtful being that hardly anybody had ever thought to give anything that would also benefit his familiar.

Ginny presented him with a Pygmy Puff like the one she had, except this one was purple and female. To say it caught Harry off guard would have been an understatement. These creatures were far too girly for his tastes and he had absolutely no idea how to take care of it. Still, he thanked the younger girl and pretended to appreciate the thing. Even though he wasn't fond of the puff ball and regardless of the fact that it hadn't cost the red-head a single sickle since it was from her brother's shop, Harry didn't show any signs of dislike.

The twins, knowing all about their sister's ridiculous gift, gave Harry a small handbook as to how to take care of his new pet. Fred and George also supplied him with a gracious amount of products from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

"It's not much," Fred told him after Harry had unwrapped their present, "Seeing as you practically paid for it all," George admitted. With the younger Gryffindor having given all of his Triwizard winnings to them, the products, along with most of the store, was really his in a way.

"True," Harry shrugged, "But it wasn't me who created these awesome things," he then smiled thankfully at the two before giving them each a brotherly hug.

Not being able to deny that, the twins just laughed and encouraged him to keep on with the unwrapping of his new belongings.

Harry then decided to go after the largest package at the far end of the table. He had been trying his best to it save for last, but his curiosity managed to get the better of him. And he soon after found himself opening a beautifully decorated trunk that contained everything needed to hold a quidditch match with. The wooden crate held a quaffle, bludger, snitch, and several beater bats.

"Thank you, Sirius!" the boy practically shouted from the excitement of finally owning such wonderful items. He could now play quidditch whenever he wanted instead of having to wait for either the practices or matches at Hogwarts.

"Don't mention it, kiddo," his godfather replied with a look of pride across his face. Sirius had quite clearly managed to select the best gift so far.

After admiring the trunk for a few more moments, Harry then reached for the much smaller box to his left. It was placed right before Hermione, who had been eying it with a great deal of wonder since she had noticed it. There was no nametag or card of any sort to tell them who it came from. And having asked the others if they knew, Hermione was just left with more confusion. How'd the anonymous gift even manage to get there?

But before she could think further into it, Harry had torn the paper apart, revealing a gorgeous snake-shaped pendant attached to a silver chain.

"It's lovely," said Luna who was sitting at Harry's right. As odd as the gift was, he had to agree with the blonde. The necklace was breathtaking and had obviously cost whoever had bought it for him a great deal of money. _"So, that would definitely rule out any of the Weasleys,"_ Harry thought to himself. He felt somewhat bad for thinking like that, but it was the truth, nonetheless.

The snake was a dark shade of green with stripes made of small diamonds across its body. The eyes were also green. Each eye hole contained two emeralds that sparkled so much it nearly put Harry into a trance. The size of the snake was, over all, not much larger than that of his pinky finger. And the chain latched onto it couldn't have been anything other than genuine silver by the looks of it.

"I would have it checked for any curses before wearing it, Harry," Hermione suggested with a hint of bitterness laced through her voice. She wouldn't say it aloud, but the brunette felt slightly jealous at whoever thought to get her friend such a remarkable gift. They had obviously put a great deal of thought into it. Hermione inwardly hoped it was a trick from a Death Eater instead of a token from another girl. It was entirely wrong to think so, but she just couldn't help it.

"Don't worry," Harry reassured her, "I'll take it straight to Dumbledore once we get back." He then re-wrapped the piece of jewelry before returning to the task at hand.

It wasn't much of a surprise when Harry received a pair of socks from the Headmaster and a knitted jumper from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. He also wasn't shocked to find that Neville had purchased him a book about unusual plants. He was caught off guard, however, by the item Luna had brought for him.

"A mood ring?" he asked the Ravenclaw, making sure he was seeing correctly. It was, after all, a muggle invention.

"Yes," Luna confirmed. "I came across it whilst shopping in muggle-London with my father." She smiled, "We even bought a few for ourselves." The younger girl then showed Harry the ring identical to his new one upon her finger.

Hermione couldn't help but notice the light shade of pink Neville's face had turned. He didn't seem pleased with the fact that Luna and Harry now had matching accessories like some couples tended to.

"So, what's your mood?" Seamus asked, quite intrigued with the foreign item.

Harry laughed when it quickly turned yellow. "Happy, apparently," he told his friend. The others became amused as well, and even Neville managed to crack a smile.

…

Later on that evening, after Seamus, Dean, Luna, and Neville went home, Harry decided to partake in a round of quidditch before it got too dark out.

"Hey," he greeted the twins after walking into their bedroom. "Want to play some quidditch?" Harry asked with his broom in hand.

"We were wondering when you'd finally ask," Fred replied. "Took you long enough," George said at the same time.

Harry just laughed while the twins grabbed their individual brooms and went downstairs.

"You game, Ginny?" He asked the younger red-head upon meeting her at the bottom of the stairwell.

"Not tonight, Harry," she told him, shaking her head. "Sorry," Ginny then added after seeing the disappointed look on her friend's face. "I'm just tired," she yawned as if to prove her point.

"No worries," he smiled to lighten the mood. "Would you mind keeping Lyra in your room for the night, though?" Harry asked, hopefully. "I can't get her to stop singing," he complained about his new pet.

Ginny stifled a laugh, "That's because she likes you, Harry," she informed him. "She thinks singing will please you. I remember not being able to get Arnold to shut up for the longest time."

"But I thought Pygmy Puffs only sang on Boxing Day?" he asked, remembering what Luna had said last year.

"That's what we thought," the twins interrupted. "But we were obviously wrong," Fred and George starting laughing. They could still hear both pets singing from upstairs.

"Hey!" Harry huffed, "You won't be laughing later when Lyra keeps you from sleeping all night," he pointed out.

Being that he currently shared a room with Fred and George, they knew the other Gryffindor was right. Harry had refused to sleep in his late friend's bedroom despite the fact that it was also once his. That being said, if his new pet was made to spend the night in the same room as her owner, the boys would be up all night. There was no question about it.

"Fine," Ginny agreed, putting an end to the twin's worrying. "But just this one night," she told Harry. "I should be able to get her to stop singing by tomorrow anyways."

"Thanks, Gin," Harry said, using his old nickname for her.

"Well, it is your birthday," she pointed out.

"Yes, it is," her brothers interrupted once more. "So, let's spend what's rest of it outside playing quidditch," George said. "It's already starting to get dark out," Fred warned.

"Alright," Harry laughed, "Thanks again!" he half-shouted as he was being pulled away from Ginny and out the back door of the Burrow by the twins.

"Wait," Harry stopped them. "We need another player to make the teams even," he stated the obvious.

"You're right," Fred agreed. "Do you think we could get Sirius to join us?" George asked. Both Harry's godfather and Hermione had decided to spend the night since they were all heading off the Hogwarts tomorrow. Sirius wanted to see his godson off while staying over simply made getting to the platform easier for their other friend.

Wondering if they could get Sirius to play with them, Harry walked back inside only to find the older man in his Animagus form, curled up and fast asleep on the couch.

"I don't think so," he sighed before remembering they actually already had another player, "Hermione!" Harry called after running back up the stairs towards the room she shared with Ginny.

"I thought you guys were going outside?" Ginny asked the boys who had suddenly barged into her room.

"We still are," Harry reassured her. He then turned to face his best friend, noticing that Lyra was sitting on her shoulder. "You ready?" he asked the brunette.

Hermione's heart began to race. She had hoped Harry would have forgotten all about her earlier promise.

"Oh, calm down 'Mione," Ginny walked over and took the Pygmy Puff off of the other girl. "You'll have fun."

"I don't-" Hermione began to protest, but the twins prevented her from doing so.

"A promise is a promise, our dear friend," George told her. "Yes," Fred responded to her look of confusion, "We overheard your deal with Harry this afternoon." The two boys then made their way over to Hermione and each grabbed one of her arms tightly, but not hard enough to cause any harm."So, let's go," they said in unison before carefully carrying her out.

Hermione had tried to put up a fight when the twins surprised her by lifting her off the ground and out of the room against her will, but soon gave up once she realized it was pointless.

Harry and Ginny, on the other hand, merely laughed the entire time. Neither one of them had any intentions of stopping them.

…

"Okay," Hermione huffed, crossing her arms in the process. "You've dragged me outside," she stated, "Now what?"

"We fly," Fred replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "First, though," George went on. "You need to pick a team," he told her. "You can either be with one of us," Fred said, "Or you can join Harry."

Hermione didn't so much as hesitate before choosing to side with her best friend. She hardly trusted either Weasley when it came to flying…or anything else for that matter.

"Alright then," Harry said, smiling at the distressed girl. "Do you want to start off sharing a broom until you get used to being up in the air?" he offered. He knew it had been years since she had flown.

Hermione only nodded her head in response, too petrified to speak at the moment. She was dreading what was about to take place.

The boys laughed, "Let's start the game then, shall we?" George broke the silence.

And before Hermione could prolong her fate any further, Harry had taken her hand and walked her over towards his Firebolt. Seconds later, the two were up in the air, gliding amongst the summer sky.

It would have been quite peaceful if Hermione hadn't been screaming and holding onto Harry's waist as if her life had depended on it.

Still, all Harry could do was laugh and enjoy the rare moment he got to share with her.

**A/N:**Review! I love it when you do that!

Next: It's time to go back to Hogwarts where many surprises await.

Until then…


	11. Chapter 11

"_It's funny how,_

_The walk of life_

_Can take you down_

_Without a fight"_

_-Calls Me Home_

Chapter 11: Hogwarts, Here We Come

Disclaimer: I own the plotline, nothing else.

Harry woke up bright and early the next morning to the sound of two identical twin snores. So, being as quiet as he possibly could, the teen made his way out of the room he shared with Fred and George and went downstairs to see if his godfather had awakened yet.

"Morning, kiddo," Sirius greeted the sleepy-eyed Gryffindor. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Harry pointed out with an amused smile.

"Ah, well," the older man directed him towards the couch so the two could sit down and talk properly. "I'm an adult now," he stated, "And we're supposed to be up at these most ungodly hours."

Harry laughed, "An adult?" he asked, "You?" he started laughing again, but this time it was from Sirius' tickle attack.

"Oh, hush!" he said, pretending to be offended.

"Alright, alright," the teen choked out, "I'm sorry," he apologized, trying to catch his breath.

"I suspected you might be," Sirius said quite smugly and laughed when his godson rolled his eyes at him.

"So, why are you really awake right now?" Harry asked again after a few moments of silence had passed. "Not even Mr. or Mrs. Weasley is up yet. And they always are before the rest of us."

"I heard you coming down the stairs," he admitted.

"Oh," Harry blushed, "Sorry...I thought I was being quiet enough, but-"

"It's perfectly fine, kiddo," Sirius reassured him before he could babble on any further. "The only reason I was even able to hear you was because I was sleeping as Padfoot," he told him, "When I'm in my Animagus form, my listening capabilities increase to the point where I can hear just about anything. It's a bit annoying, really," he added.

"Then why did you do it?" Harry asked.

"Because," he replied knowingly, "It is actually quite comfortable to curl up like that, believe it or not."

"So, I guess I should have stayed up in my room to let sleeping dogs lie, right?" Harry joked.

Again, Sirius went after the younger boy, sending him into another fit of giggles.

"You two are up rather early," Mrs. Weasley interrupted as she made her way down the staircase. She was smiling brightly at the sight before her. She was glad Harry finally had a real family. Sirius was incredibly good to him and Molly just knew they'd have a great time with one another next summer.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep," Harry answered her after Sirius had ceased his tickling rampage.

"Oh, did the twins wake you dear?" she asked somewhat concerned. "I know they have a bad habit of snoring throughout the night."

"No, that wasn't it," he reassured her. "I'm just feeling anxious about returning to Hogwarts today," Harry said almost inaudibly. He was looking down into his lap, obviously ashamed of what he had admitted.

"We all are, Harry," Hermione said, having woken up due to stress quite some time ago. She only now decided to come downstairs after hearing the others.

"How about I go and fetch some tea?" Mrs. Weasley asked as her husband also made his way into the living room. "Or would you like coffee, Sirius?" she added before heading into the kitchen.

"Tea is fine, Molly," he replied, "Thank you."

Arthur had followed his wife into the other room to help while Hermione made her way over to the couch to sit next to her friend.

"I almost don't want to go back," Harry sighed, now sitting between his best friend and his godfather.

Not knowing what to say for once, Hermione merely nodded her head in agreement. She didn't want to return to the place that held so many memories of their old friend either. The Great Hall wouldn't be the same without somebody to nag about eating too much. The common room would be quieter without having the red-head there to yell at for being too loud while she tried doing her homework. And class wouldn't be as it once was without the other boy there to criticize for not paying attention. Hermione wasn't sure if she could go back with that knowledge.

"It'll be good for you both," Sirius broke the new formed silence. "You need to face the fact that things have changed. It's time to accept things as they are now," he wrapped an arm around Harry's slumped shoulders. "You've both been making excellent progress this past month," he told them truthfully. "Don't let it all go to waste now."

Hermione smiled at his words of wisdom. He was right, and she knew it. Still, that didn't make their situation any easier….but there was nothing she could do about it though. She and Harry would just have to 'keep calm and carry on' as the muggles say.

"I won't," Harry decided. "I know he wouldn't want any of us to do that either," he added, referring to Ron.

At those words, Hermione decided to mimic Sirius' earlier actions, but instead wrapped her arm around the slim teen's waist. After leaning into him, Harry sighed contently and remained sitting there quite comfortably until Mrs. Weasley woke up the other children and called them into the dining room for breakfast.

…

"Are you sure you have everything?" Sirius asked him for the umpteenth time. It was now only five minutes until the Hogwarts Express would be leaving and Harry really needed to go at that point.

"Yes," he replied, oddly tempted to call his godfather 'dad' for worrying so much. He was being just as bad as Mrs. Weasley who was currently fussing over Ginny.

"Sorry," Sirius sighed. "I'm just going to miss you, kiddo," he ruffled the boys jet black hair, making it messier than it already was.

"You'll see me at Christmas," Harry reminded him. "Besides," he added, "You'll be plenty busy now that you have a real job."

Sirius smiled. He did have a pretty awesome job working alongside the Weasley twins. After discovering the older man was actually a Marauder, the two boys literally begged for him to help invent new pranks and other products. He was Fred and George's idol since the day they found the map he and his friends invented. The shenanigans the older group of friends was known for had inspired many of the jokes the twins used.

"You'd still better write," he ordered before pulling his godson into big hug, which caused Harry to laugh.

After agreeing, the young Gryffindor took off after Hermione, who was now calling for him from the train's entrance.

Quickly finding a compartment with her, Neville, Luna, Ginny, and Dean, Harry opened the small window just before they departed in order to wave goodbye to Sirius again.

As he waved in return, the older man desperately hoped the new school year would be good to Harry and his friends for once.

…

"I almost forgot!" Hermione shrieked, scaring her friends in the process. They had all been quietly enjoying their newly purchased sweets when the girl randomly jumped up and shouted in horror.

"What is it?" Harry asked, slightly annoyed, but mostly amused.

"I have to attend the prefect's meeting a few compartments down," she quickly replied, putting on her new badge of authority. The brunette then gave Neville a stern look, "You too, Neville!" she reminded the boy.

"Oh, right," his face turned red as he pulled out his badge also.

"We'll see you later, Harry!" Hermione gave her friend a quick hug before practically shoving Neville out of the small door.

The rest of the group then went back to eating their snacks.

"Great," Harry sighed moments later. All of Hermione's shouting had woken his new pet, which caused her to resume the singing she had begun earlier.

Dean starting laughing again as Harry gently took Lyra off of his shoulder and placed her onto his lap. After petting the small puff ball several times, she finally fell back asleep, much to his relief.

"Sorry, Harry," Ginny said quietly after he had silenced the Pygmy Puff. "I tried to get her to stop that last night, but she refused."

"I thought they only sang on Boxing Day?" Luna inquired with her dreamy voice.

"Yeah," Harry looked over at his friend, "You were wrong."

Everybody laughed at the disappointed look on the blonde's face after that.

…

Harry met up with Hermione and Neville again upon entering the Great Hall. After giving Neville a rather long hug (longer than necessary, Hermione noted) Luna left the group for the Ravenclaw table.

Ginny looked over at Dean. He had taken the spot Ron usually sat at.

"You okay?" Dean asked his girlfriend. She had gone from smiling to looking outright depressed in only a matter of seconds.

"She'll be just fine," Hermione answered for the younger girl. She took Ginny's hand from across the table and gave it a small squeeze. Just as Sirius had told her and Harry that morning, it was time to let the past go and move on.

Giving her friend a look of appreciation, Ginny then rested her head upon Dean's shoulder and listened to the Headmaster's welcoming speech.

…

Halfway into his meal, Harry was interrupted from his thoughts by some rather loud laughing. Like Hermione, who was sitting right beside him, the boy turned to see Draco Malfoy smiling and having what was obviously a good time with his friends Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini.

To say this confused Harry would be the biggest understatement of the century. He would have thought the other teen to be outright furious and utterly depressed being that, like Ron, his father was killed down in the Department of Mysteries.

The elder Malfoy had tried going after him when Sirius quickly went to his godson's defense and killed the man.

Having known that, both Hermione and Harry were shocked when Malfoy looked in their direction and gave them a small nod instead of the sneer they usually received every year.

What really surprised Hermione, however, was when Draco looked past her shoulder at the youngest Weasley and frowned. Only then did the platinum blonde express the sadness she and Harry had expected to see earlier. For once, Hermione didn't know what to think.

"Do you-?" Harry went to ask her, but was immediately interrupted by her very blunt answer.

"No," she shook her head. Hermione then looked over at Ginny, feeling a bit better knowing that she didn't see the look Malfoy had given her.

"'Mione?" the younger girl asked upon seeing her friend staring oddly at her.

"Sorry," Hermione smiled. "I was just wondering where Dean went," she somewhat lied. The brunette was actually a bit curious as to where her friend's boyfriend had gone.

"Oh," Ginny looked down in disappointment, "He said he wanted to get to bed early."

Hermione sighed, "You know," she informed the red-head, "You two have been a bit off since Harry's birthday party. Is something wrong?"

Ginny looked back up at her, "I don't know," she replied sadly. "Can we talk about this later?"

"Of course," Hermione smiled at her before turning to face Harry.

"You've been quiet," she stated. He had hardy touched his dinner as well.

"So has Neville," he accused. Harry hated when Hermione become unnecessarily concerned about him. He really just didn't like causing others to worry.

"He's been talking with Seamus, actually," she corrected him, not paying mind to his annoyed tone.

Before Harry could respond to that, two letters suddenly appeared before him. Looking around the Great Hall in confusion, Harry caught both Snape and Malfoy, along with the Headmaster watching him.

"Hey," Hermione spoke up, causing Harry to break his staring match with Snape, "Why don't you open them, Harry?" she suggested.

Nodding his head in agreement, Harry unsealed one of the envelopes and began to read the first letter.

_Harry,_

_I know it is only your first day back, but I would like to have a meeting with you tonight._

_I apologize, of course. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important, I assure you. _

_Please stop by my office at seven thirty. The password is Blood Pops. _

_Albus Dumbledore _

"Well that's odd," Hermione told him after she read the small note.

"Not really," Harry shrugged, "We meet at the beginning of almost every year."

Hermione sighed and just handed her friend the next envelope.

He opened it only to reveal a note much smaller than the previous one.

_Potter, _

_Meet me in the dungeons at eight. There are some things my godfather and I need to discuss with you. _

_Come alone. _

_Draco Malfoy_

"Should I go?" Harry asked Hermione as he looked back at Malfoy untrustingly. For all he knew this could be some sort of trap.

"Well, it is after your meeting with Professor Dumbledore," Hermione gave it some thought. "I would just inform him before you go. If he says it's alright, you should be fine." She didn't look completely convinced, but the brunette couldn't think of any other logical answer.

"Good idea," Harry agreed, looking away from the Slytherin table. "Do you know who Malfoy's godfather is?" he then asked, remembering that other boy had said another man would be joining them.

"Sorry," Hermione shook her head, "No."

After having replied, the Headmaster dismissed the students with instructions to follow their Prefects to bed.

"I'll wait for you in the common room tonight," Hermione told Harry. "Be sure to get that necklace inspected," she reminded him.

After agreeing to do so, Hermione gave him a quick peck on the cheek before grabbing Neville to join her in leading the first years to the tower.

Harry was left standing there, confused for so many reasons.

**A/N:** C'mon guys, let me know what you think of the chapter…You know you want to!


	12. Chapter 12

"_This hopelessness that drowns_

_All that I believe_

_Will be_

_The one thing…_

_That I need"_

_-For You Only_

Chapter 12: Details Are Everything

Disclaimer: I own the plotline, nothing else.

"Blood Pops," Harry told the large stone gargoyle as he reached the Headmaster's office that night. After making his way up the spiral stairs, he knocked upon the door and made his way inside the small, dusty old room.

"Harry, my boy," Dumbledore greeted the young Gryffindor. "Lemon drop?" he offered.

"Oh, no thank you," he politely declined before taking his seat in front of the Professor's desk.

Dumbledore merely sighed before sitting back down before the younger boy. Deciding to get to the point, he started with what he knew would be a rather long conversation. "I'm sure you must be wondering why I asked you here tonight," he started.

Remaining silent, Harry simply nodded his head.

"As you very well know," the older wizard went on, "Voldemort officially returned two years ago."

Not seeing the reason in his statement, the teen gave off an utterly confused look causing the Headmaster to chuckle.

"I know, dear boy," he stifled further laughing, "I merely state the obvious only because it is an important fact as to what I am about to divulge to you tonight."

"Okay," Harry nodded once more, waiting for his mentor to get to the point.

"Right," he sighed, gathering his thoughts, "Let me start with a simple question," he looked directly into the emerald eyes before him, "Would you say there is a Professor here at Hogwarts that you spend more time with as opposed to the others? Is there perhaps a teacher you feel more comfortable in confiding in? Basically," Dumbledore elaborated further, "Is there a faculty member at this school that you trust more so than the rest of us?"

Immediately thinking of Hagrid, Harry slowly nodded his head, "Yeah, I suppose," he then eyed the man skeptically, "Why?"

"Throughout his years as a student, Tom also had a professor, like many students do," he added, not wanting to compare the-boy-who-lived and his nemesis further than necessary, "That he turned to with all of his questions and such. This man, is the one in which he shared what we now know to be vital information. Without this knowledge, there would be no hopes in defeating Voldemort."

"What is it, sir?" Harry asked, practically sitting on the edge of his seat now. He was desperate for any information that would help him be rid of the man who destroyed the lives of so many others, including his own.

"All in good time," Dumbledore reassured the boy that he would get to that eventually. "For now, I think it would benefit you to know just who this man is," he told the teen who then reluctantly agreed. "Horace Slughorn," the Headmaster told him, "Was the Potions Master here at Hogwarts prior to Professor Snape. He was the man Tom sought advice from."

"I've never heard of him," Harry shook his head negatively. "What was it that Voldemort told him?" he asked again, becoming slightly frustrated. "Why is it so important?"

"Harry, do you know what a horcrux is?"

The searching look upon the boy's face was enough to tell the elder man he hadn't the slightest idea.

"A horcrux," Dumbledore went on to define, "is a very powerful object in which a Dark wizard or witch has hidden a fragment of his or her soul for the purpose of attaining immortality."

Harry's face instantly paled. How was he supposed to defeat the creature if he was immortal?

Sighing at the pained look upon his student's face, the Headmaster continued, "To create such an object, one must split his or her soul."

The Gryffindor winced at the very aspect of even trying to do that. Not only did it sound incredibly painful, it seemed disgusting as well.

"To split one's soul," Dumbledore went on, "One must commit a supreme act of evil, such as murder. Killing rips the soul apart," he bluntly stated, "And once this is done, he or she can then encase that portion of their fractured soul into an object of their choice. A horcrux can be made of almost anything, you see. That," he said disappointedly, "Can make these items particularly difficult to trace."

"So, what you're saying is," Harry went to asked almost inaudibly, "Voldemort has hidden parts of his soul all over the world to prevent himself from ever dying?"

Dumbledore confirmed his thoughts by just nodding his head rather sadly.

"Then it's hopeless," Harry took a deep breath, trying to refrain from becoming angry. "We don't even know how many of these he's made, let alone where the bloody things are."

"Actually, my dear boy, that is not the case at all." The teen immediately looked up at his mentor before he kept on. "This is why I summoned you here tonight."

"On the night of Lord Voldemort's return," Dumbledore began his explanation, "Fear sparked throughout the entire Wizarding World. It was this fear that drove my old colleague, Horace, to meet with me shortly after. Although my poor friend was terribly frightened at the idea of sharing his past mistakes with me," the older man admitted, "After the sobering fact that so many lives were at stake and after quite a few drinks, might I add," he put in with a small smile, "Professor Slughorn released his memories over for me to look at via pensieve," the man then gestured over to where the artifact remained. "I would like you to see it, Harry," he told the young boy.

A bit nervous as to what he might see, Harry slowly agreed to do so before following the Headmaster over to what looked like just a small bowl. He watched as the older man carefully grabbed a small vial off the shelf beside them and poured its contents into the pensieve. Moments later, the two wizards found themselves in Slughorn's old office, about to witness a somewhat historical event.

"_Well, well, it can't hurt to give you an overview, of course. Just so that you understand the term," _Harry watched as Professor Slughorn was about to hand this extremely dangerous information over to the soon-to-be most feared wizard of all time. _"A Horcrux is the word used for an object in which a person has concealed part of their soul."_

"_I don't quite understand how that works, sir,"_ Harry looked over to where the other boy stood. This version of Voldemort may have looked less like the monster he was today, but he was certainly just as intimidating. The look on young Tom's face was almost frightening. The eagerness the Slytherin displayed in trying to obtain such information was disturbing to say the least.

"_Well, you split your soul, you see, and hide part of it in an object outside the body. Then, even if one's body is attacked or destroyed, one cannot die, for part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged. But, of course, existence in such a form…few would want it, Tom, very few,"_ Harry watched as Professor Slughorn looked away from the odd desire in the other teen's eyes. Instead, the former Potions Master focused on the necklace his student wore upon his neck as a means of distraction before reluctantly continuing on with the conversation,_ "Death would be preferable."_

Clearly not agreeing with his Professor, young Riddle pushed on, toying with the ring on his finger as his did so, _"And how exactly does one split his soul?"_

Horace became completely flustered at that question. He obviously had no desire in passing this knowledge along to his student. Still, it was only a few minutes later that both Dumbledore and Harry found themselves watching the old teacher do exactly that.

Upon exiting the pensieve and leaving that vile memory behind, Harry found himself breathing hard and looking about ready to pass out in the Headmaster's opinion.

"Take a seat, dear boy," he said as more of an order than a suggestion.

No moments were spared, for after his teacher told him to do that, Harry quickly rushed back over to his seat and gathered his thoughts.

"Why'd you ask me to watch that?" Harry breathed out. "Everything in there was exactly what you already told me!" he couldn't help but to raise his voice. The Gryffindor knew what he was just forced to witness would be replaying over and over in his mind for the many months to come.

Dumbledore sighed as he, once again, took the seat behind his desk. "The words distributed between the two were not what I intended for you to focus on, Harry," he admitted. "I had hoped you would have paid more attention to the smaller details throughout that scene."

"What do you mean, sir?" Harry asked, taking yet another deep breath in order to calm himself.

"Harry, do you remember the diary you found in your second year? The one you stabbed with the basilisk fang?" the Headmaster replied. It annoyed the boy to no end whenever the older man took to answering his questions with just another inquiry.

"Yeah, why?" he urged his mentor to get on with it.

"That, my boy," Dumbledore looked at Harry with his infamous twinkling eyes, "Was one of the horcruxes."

**A/N:** Hey guys!

So, since the holidays are just around the corner, I decided to post this chapter up a bit earlier seeing that I won't be updating most likely until around the 2nd-3rd of January.

I'm incredibly happy that you're all enjoying the story so far!

Please, keep reviewing to let me know what you think and whether or not I should keep on.

I know this chapter may not have been the most interesting, but it is very important to the new plot, I assure you.

Happy Holiday's! I wish you all the best! xx

_(Slughorn Memory provided by J.K Rowling's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)_


	13. Chapter 13

"_Lifeless words carry on…_

_Then, I know_

_All I know_

_Is that the end's beginning"_

_-Shattered_

Chapter 13: Accepting the Unacceptable

Disclaimer: I own the plotline, nothing else.

"What?" Harry sputtered before quickly rising from his chair. The headmaster had just pulled the small book out from the drawer of his desk causing the raven-haired boy to stare at it in awe. "Have you destroyed it, yet?" he managed to ask.

"No," he replied, causing Harry's face to fall into a disappointed look. "Because you already succeeded in doing that for me," he finally said.

The disappointment quickly shifted into disbelief. "How?"

"A horcrux only takes in that which makes it stronger," Dumbledore put it simply, "So when you drove the basilisk venom into it, the fragmented soul the diary previously contained was pushed out and soon after destroyed."

Now knowing how to kill off these pieces of Voldemort, there was only one last thing Harry needed to know. "How will we find the others?"

"That takes me back to my previous statement," the Headmaster told him, looking directly into Harry's eyes for the second time that night as he did so, "Did you happen to see the ring Tom was admiring or the locket Professor Slughorn was eyeing?"

Thinking back, Harry did recall the fine jewelry Riddle wore in that scene. "Yeah," he replied before it dawned on him, "You think those could be horcruxes now?" he asked hopefully.

Dumbledore shook his head, "I do not think, Harry, I know." After that, the man pulled out both the ring and necklace along with a golden goblet and a fancy looking diadem.

"Are they-?"

"Yes, my boy," Dumbledore cut him off. "They were all once horcruxes that have now been destroyed." The headmaster then handed over the locket Harry previously saw upon Voldemort's neck. It wasn't the jewelry he became intrigued with, though. It was the sight of his mentor's hand decaying that caught all of his attention.

"Sir?" he said with upmost concern. Harry swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat before asking, "What's that?"

He looked down in shame, "That, my boy is the mark of an old man's foolish mistake."

"What do you mean?" the Gryffindor quickly asked him, suddenly feeling the need to sit down.

Taking his seat as well, the other man explained, "You see, ever since I learned of the horcruxes two years ago, I have been frantically researching and hunting them down. I became overly excited when I finally managed to obtain one and decided to put it on my own finger for safe keeping. There is much more to this event that I do not wish to divulge," He sighed, "But to make a long story short: That ring contained far more than just a piece of Voldemort's soul. It was this knowledge that caused me to become all the more eager to take care of it. I wasn't thinking clearly and upon doing so, I released a terrible curse into my body that will soon, unfortunately kill me."

Harry couldn't fight the gasp that escaped his lips. "N-no," he shook his head, "There has to be something-"

"Professor Snape has already prolonged the process as long as possible, my dear boy," he told him quite sadly. It wasn't himself the headmaster felt terrible for, but Harry instead. The poor child had just lost his best friend, and was now about to lose his guide by the end of his next school year. As if having the weight of the Wizarding World wasn't enough…

Harry felt slightly thankful towards his most hated Professor in that moment, but the feeling quickly dissipated once he realized that regardless of what he or anybody else did, the man would die soon. It would be another loss that the teen had no control over, and would be another death that he would feel extremely guilty about. He was what Voldemort truly wanted, after all.

"Do not feel bad, Harry," the Headmaster broke the silence, "This is a good thing, I assure you," he told him with that ever so annoying twinkle in his eye. What was there to 'twinkle' about right now? The man was dying!

"How do you figure?" he said hoarsely. All of the depression he had finally managed to let go of over the summer had suddenly returned with much force.

"Because now there remains only one horcrux to be destroyed," he told his student, "Thanks to Severus, Nagini is no longer one to worry about."

Harry's eyes widened and he began putting the pieces together, "Nagini…Voldemort's snake…horcrux…What did Snape do?" he finally asked in utter shock.

Dumbledore let out a soft laugh that slightly frustrated Harry. "As I'm sure you did not know," he said, "Professor Snape is, or rather, was a spy. He had been working undercover for the order to retrieve information that proved vital in keeping you safe. Unfortunately, he had to renounce that title in order to deal with Nagini for me. This was the only way to destroy one of the final horcruxes, you see," the man explained, "For none of us would have been able to get so close to Voldemort's familiar without being caught. As it were, poor Severus barely managed to get away and has now put himself in terrible danger."

Harry was officially dumbstruck. The greasy git had been protecting him all this time? _And_ he was a spy?

"Yes, Harry," the Headmaster chuckled once more, "Professor Snape is one of the good guys."

"But why would he risk his life for me? I thought he hated me," Harry told him quite knowingly. Anybody with a clear set of eyes could tell the Potions Professor despised the boy's very existence. Harry learned just last year, however, that he had his father to thank for that one. Still, it wasn't much of an excuse in his opinion. The boy was clearly _not_ his dad, despite the uncanny likeness in appearances.

"I shall let Professor Snape explain, dear boy, for it is not my place to do so," he said firmly, providing no argument against the matter.

Harry sighed, and changed the subject. "So, is that all of them?" he asked, "The horcruxes, I mean."

Dumbledore gave Harry a look that he almost recognized to be pity, but couldn't be entirely sure because the older man put up an emotionless mask soon after. "We suspect there may be another," he admitted.

"Do you have any idea what it might be?" he asked, again with much hope.

For the first time that night, the headmaster looked away from the boy who sat before him. "It's getting late," he stated, "And I believe you have another meeting to attend, do you not?"

Again, Harry was bewildered. Did that man truly know _everything?_ He didn't know, but didn't feel up for questioning it at the moment. He had too many thoughts going on in his mind as it were.

"Yeah," he nodded, "Do you think I should go, though?" he asked, recalling Hermione's advice to ask the Professor before meeting up with his enemy.

"I should think so," Dumbledore confirmed. "It would be rude to decline such an invitation," he stated.

At the younger boy's look of apprehension, the Headmaster put in a few more words of reassurance, "Curfew is in an hour," the man stated, "And if you are not back in the tower by then, I will personally come for you." He then placed a comforting hand on the Gryffindor's shoulder until he appeared thoroughly convinced.

It was then that Harry was just about to leave when he remembered his best friend's other order of getting the headmaster to inspect the pendant he had received for his birthday.

"Sir?" he said in order to gain the older man's attention once more.

"Yes, Harry?" he turned around to face the teen.

He fished the small snake-shaped piece of jewelry out of his pocket and held it up by its silver chain. "Someone sent this to me and I'm not sure why or even who it's from," Harry told him. "Hermione suggested having it looked at before wearing it or anything." After those words, he couldn't help but to feel bad seeing as the headmaster had placed that ring upon his finger without thinking and caught him a deadly curse.

"Your friend is very wise, Harry," he simply said, looking past the guilty look on his student's face. He then took the necklace from the boy's hand and muttered a simple incantation over it.

"It appears to be fine," he confirmed before handing it back over. "I see no reason as to why you should not wear it," Dumbledore smiled, "It truly is a fine piece of craftsmanship."

"Thanks," Harry replied quietly before slipping the chain over his head and onto his neck. No longer wanting to be around his slowly passing mentor, he made his way out of the small office.

As he made his way down the spiral stairs, Harry could only think about how much he would miss the ridiculous socks the headmaster sent him for his birthday every year.

**A/N:** Okay guys, here's the next chapter!

I posted exactly when I said I would.

I hope you all had a wonderful winter break,

But now it's time to hit that review button!

Let me know what you though, kay?

Thanks!


	14. Chapter 14

"_One tear in the dropping rain_

_One voice in a sea of pain_

_Could the maker of the stars…_

_Here the sound of my breaking heart?_

_One life, that's all I am_

_And right now I can barely stand"_

_-Hold My Heart_

Chapter 14: New Allies and New Roommates

Past Disclaimer applies.

"Potter," somebody hissed from around the corner as Harry cautiously entered the dungeons.

Pulling out his wand, being that he had no idea what or whom awaited him, the Gryffindor then slowly made his way towards the place the voice had come from.

"For Merlin's sake, Potter, would you put that away?" hissed Malfoy once Harry had come into view. The other boy had nearly jabbed him in the eye with his wand as Draco was about to turn the corner to see what was taking so long.

"Sorry," Harry muttered half-heartedly as he pocketed the 11inch Holly.

"Yeah, yeah," the Slytherin then got to the point, "Just follow me," he ordered before taking off rather quickly in the opposite direction.

Still feeling a bit uneasy about the entire situation, the Gryffindor hesitated and pulled out his wand once more before following the prat anywhere.

"I thought I told you to put that away?" Malfoy spat, noticing the wand held firmly in the other teen's hand once more.

"Again, sorry," Harry said for the second time, yet still not meaning it, "But I honestly don't trust you," he told the blonde rather bluntly.

Draco merely sighed, "Whatever, Potter," he refrained from rolling his eyes when Harry's grip around the small piece of wood tightened, "Are you coming inside?" he then gestured to the now open portrait before them.

Peering into the room, Harry realized that this was the Potion Master's private quarters. He recognized it so easily from the memory he and Dumbledore had witnessed just moments ago. The only difference now was that instead of being in that room with Slughorn and Voldemort, Harry would be inside it with Snape and Malfoy. So, basically, it would be two people that hated him versus just the one from before. "Great," he thought, "Well, at least neither one of them is out to kill me," Harry added optimistically before putting in a negative, "… I think."

"Well?" Malfoy asked, breaking the raven-haired boy from his train of thought. Looking back at Draco, he noted that the blonde was now very irritated. Oddly enough, however, it amused Harry to no end.

"Yeah, don't get your wand in a knot," he told the boy, before quickly entering to avoid any retaliation.

"Ah, and Mr. Potter has finally decided to grace me with his presence," came the voice Harry knew all too well. "Late," Snape stated, "As per usual."

Only three seconds had he been in the room and the Gryffindor was already being insulted. If this was all he was called down here for, Harry thought, then there was no point in sticking around.

"Take a seat," the Professor directed him towards the couch placed before the chair he currently sat in. Draco had already seated himself on the opposite end of the (green, of course) sofa.

Realizing that he would not be going anywhere, despite what he so desperately wanted, Harry complied and sat beside the other boy. It was then that he remembered all of what Dumbledore relayed to him. Snape…spy…horcrux…snake…Harry needed answers, and he needed them now.

"Sir-?" he began only to be cut off by a hand raised by Snape to silence him.

"As I understand it," the Professor spoke, "You have just come from a meeting with the Headmaster," he then eyed the boy before him, "Am I correct?"

Harry merely nodded.

"Are you incapable of answering me vocally Mr. Potter, or-"

Exasperated and extremely annoyed, the Gryffindor took his turn in interrupting the other man, "Yes!" Harry then told him sarcastically, "You're right, as usual."

Much to his surprise, Snape just smirked at him before continuing, "So, I am certain that he has told you of my prior status." He told the boy as more of a statement than a question, so Harry chose to remain silent. "We shall discuss the matter in due time, I assure you," he watched the frustrated look appear across the boy's face, "But for now we have more important topics cover."

Harry took a deep breath and bit back the protests he was about to make. "And what would that be?"

"What would that be, sir," Snape corrected, much to his displeasure. He could hear Malfoy trying to stifle a laugh beside him, which only angered him further.

"And what would that be, sir?" Harry said again, through gritted teeth this time.

Surprising him for a second time that night, Snape gave him a look that was almost, what?-sympathetic? ("As if that were even possible," Harry thought) and spoke with a softer, somewhat nicer tone than before, "It is no secret in regards of what happened to young Mr. Weasley this past year, as I'm sure you know," the Professor began, "And while it is most unfortunate-"

"Unfortunate?" Harry interrupted. "I didn't come all the way down here for this," he told the two. The teen no longer cared about what Snape was once hiding. Regardless of what Dumbledore said, he would get the details out of the Headmaster one way or another. Clearly, talking with the Potions Master about his previous spy status wasn't an option. Not when all the git wanted to do was talk about his late best friend. The subject was plenty hard to speak of with his closest friends, let alone the bat of the dungeons. So, after coming to that conclusion, Harry got up and prepared to leave.

"Where do you think you're going, Potter?" Severus rose as well, "This discussion is hardly over." As an argument was evidently about to take place, Malfoy chose to stay seated and remain silent. For once, he thought it best to steer clear of fighting with the other boy.

"I don't need your pity!" Harry told the older man, taking a courageous step forward in the process. "And I sure as hell don't want your condolences," he spat. "You didn't even like R-" the Gryffindor still had a hard time mentioning his mate's name. Even when he was trying to make a point…he just found it difficult.

"I was not offering my condolences, nor was I trying to display any means of pity towards you Mr. Potter," Snape took the brief moment of silence to have his word, "Whilst I should not have to explain this to you, I shall inform you that I was merely stating the facts in an attempt to get to my point."

"Where exactly does he fit into all this?" Harry asked, slightly lowering his voice, "What does he have to do with anything?"

"If you would kindly retake your seat I will illuminate you," he told the boy with his infamous sarcastic tone.

Several moments passed before Harry finally decided to give in. It wasn't until then that he sat back down next to Draco.

"Ten points from Gryffindor and a detention for the next Saturday," his Professor informed him before carrying on with their previous conversation.

"What? You've got to be-" Harry tried protesting.

Snape raised a brow, "Would you like to make that twenty and a month's worth of detentions, Potter?" he tried.

The teen wisely remained quiet and just shook his head.

"You will not raise your voice at me again," he informed the raven-haired teen, "do you understand?"

Harry took a deep breath, "Yes, sir."

Unable to contain himself this go round, the Slytherin laughed.

"Hush, Draco," his godfather silenced him within a matter of seconds, causing Harry to take his turn in laughing at the other boy.

A stern look was all it took for him, however, to quickly shut his mouth.

"Now, then," the Professor began once more, "As I was saying earlier-"

"Could we just skip the part about," Harry swallowed, "About him, sir?" he pleaded, not wanting to be reminded once more that night.

Snape eyed him carefully before reluctantly agreeing, "As you wish Mr. Potter." He noticed the boy sigh in relief. "If I may continue without interruption this time, it would be much appreciated."

Harry lowered his head, "Yes, sir," he mumbled.

"Another was lost that night, as I recall," the Professor went on, getting straight to the point this time. It was here that Draco began to really pay attention. "Lucius Malfoy was murdered, by your godfather no less, that night," he said whilst looking at Harry.

"Are you expecting an apology?" he turned to the blonde beside him. "Because for one thing, I'm not the one who-"

"I thought we agreed on no further interruptions, Potter," Snape spat, becoming increasingly agitated. If Severus had known the boy was going to make communicating with him this difficult, he would have never agreed to the Headmaster's request of having this conversation. Dumbledore had insisted that Harry needed to know exactly why Draco's persona will have changed, why the Potion's Master went out of his way to protect the foolish Gryffindor all these years, and just why the need to learn Occlumency was more important than ever before.

"I'm just saying that-" Harry tried explaining.

"I don't want an apology, Potter," Draco spoke up, "I know you're not the one who killed my father," he informed him, "but even if you were, it wouldn't make a difference. I'm not sorry he's dead and I don't expect or want anybody else to be."

Harry could only gape at him. Why would he not be devastated at the loss? It was his own flesh and blood for Merlin's sake!

"Yes, it seems the Mutt was able to accomplish something worthwhile for once in his pathetic life," Snape drawled on.

"Don't say a word against-"

"You will lose your attitude, Potter, or I will refrain from explaining anything to you," Snape cut the teen off.

Realizing that he wouldn't be getting even a full sentence in at this point, Harry took yet another deep breath in an attempt to calm down.

"Lucius was never a good man," the Professor went on. Harry couldn't keep in the scoff that escaped his lips at those words. After shooting his student a warning look, he proceeded, "Not even towards his family, was he halfway decent."

Emerald eyes looked back and forth between Snape and Malfoy. What were they getting at?

"My father was abusive," Draco cut the conversation short. "Why are we telling him this?" he asked his godfather.

"Because Potter and his lot would be expecting anger and resentment from you," Snape informed, "And when you instead acted civil, they became curious," he then insulted the other teen by saying, "and we all know that Mr. Potter's curiosities have led to nothing but danger to himself and those around him in the past."

"Was that necessary?" Harry shot a glare at his Professor.

"Someone's sensitive," Malfoy snickered, causing him to instead narrow his eyes at the other boy.

"Alright," the Gryffindor huffed, "If somebody doesn't tell me-"

"Be silent for two minutes and all shall be explained," Snape prevented him from finishing yet another sentence.

"Look," Draco decided that with the other two constantly arguing it would be easier for him to just do this, "My father was a deatheater, as you obviously knew," Harry nodded, "With that, he was expected to act a certain way," Malfoy sighed before continuing, "And in turn, he expected my mother and I to behave in a particular manner."

Harry's stomach churned. He didn't like where this conversation was going. The Gryffindor had a hunch that it was headed to a dark place...and although his assumptions had been wrong many times before, Harry was almost certain he was correct in this.

"My father took his job quite seriously," Malfoy told him, "He was very faithful when it came to the Dark Lord," the boy shook his head, "The man expected me to join his ranks this past summer."

"Did you?" Harry couldn't help but ask.

The Slytherin rolled his eyes, "No, Potter," he then pushed up his sleeve to reveal his un-tattooed arm. Not that it was any of the bloody Gryffindor's business. The blonde was simply proving a point.

"Anyways," Draco went on, "to make this easier for you to understand, I'll be blunt," he then looked at Harry in a way the other teen wasn't familiar with. He looked completely serious as opposed to the foul looks he typically wore in Potter's presence. "My mother was forced to become a deatheater and was instructed to associate with those of only a pureblood status," he then gave off a look that was almost…guilty? Harry couldn't be sure because the mask was back up moments later and the blonde continued speaking, "While I was made to eventually join the Dark Lord's ranks as well as refrain from being friends with anybody outside the Slytherin house. In fact," he informed the teen sitting beside him, "When my father learned that I had originally tried to become mates with you back in first year, he became angry, I guess you could say, and ordered me to make your life miserable from that day on," Draco then smirked, "Because nobody rejects a Malfoy, you see," he elaborated.

Harry snorted, "Of course."

"Yes, we are all aware of what if must mean to be a Malfoy," Snape somewhat insulted the other teen for once, instead of going after the raven-haired one. "Continue, if you would," his godfather instructed.

Not appearing to be affected by the small blow, Draco did as he was told. "At first I was all for making your life a living hell," he told Harry, who merely shook his head, "but as the years passed, I grew tired of the constant fighting."

"So, what kept you from just laying off us?" Harry asked, referring to him as his friends.

"My father," Malfoy said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "After telling his master that he had his son tormenting 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' at school, he was pleased," he told Harry, referring to Voldemort's pleasure of his enemy being bullied both in and out of Hogwarts, "My father literally lived to make the Dark Lord proud, so it was only to be expected that he would wish for me to keep it all up."

"And you couldn't just lie?" Harry inquired. Wouldn't it have been easier to just say he was obeying his father without having to do something he didn't wish to?

"Are you really that daft?" Malfoy spat. At his godfather's firm gaze, the young Slytherin mellowed down and explained, "Ever heard of a pensieve, Potter?"

"Yes," he nodded, "Why?"

Draco sighed, "Well, for one thing, he would know when I was lying to him," he told him, "How he always figured out if I was deceiving him, I'll never know," the blonde shook his head, "but if he ever doubted me, all my father had to do was ask for my memories, which he often did," Draco added, "and he would easily be able see whether or not I was actually doing as I was previously told."

"So, as you can see, Mr. Potter, many of Draco's actions were not at his fault-" Snape tried telling him.

"Like that's any excuse," Harry countered, "He didn't have to go so overboard half the time," he told them, "and letting him get away with all of it was completely unfair," the Gryffindor stated, "Even if his father was making him act that way."

"Five points from Gryffindor for yet another unnecessary interruption," Snape said, "And the school-year hasn't even officially started. Even for you, Mr. Potter," he informed him, "This must be a new record."

"Well if you weren't such a-" Harry muttered under his breath.

"Are we going for another five, Potter?" his Professor inquired with his ever-present sneer.

The teen could feel his face grow hot as Malfoy began to laugh once more at his expense. "Alright, so now I know why Malfoy's been acting odder than usual," Harry began, immediately shutting off the other boy at his remark, "Now can you tell me why you decided to act as a spy for the order?" he asked, desperately wanting to know why the man who hated him so was actually risking his life to keep him safe all those years.

"First," the man told him, "You should know that in addition to the information Draco has informed you of, both he and Narcissa are being moved into Grimmauld Place in order to keep the two safe," before Harry could even begin to protest, Snape continued, "Narcissa, also, has been inducted into the Order for further safe-keeping seeing as both she and Draco have rejected the Dark Lord. After Lucius' death, he expected both to take his side," he explained, "and when they did not, the Dark Lord grew angry and immediately sought them out."

"Is there nowhere else to keep them?" Harry complained, "Why Sirius' place?" he asked. Seriously, of all homes, it just had to be the one he would be living in from now on. 'Luck is clearly on my side', he thought sarcastically.

"It wasn't exactly my first choice either, Potter," Draco spat before his godfather could respond.

All Harry could do was glare at the blonde before Severus spoke up again, "Narcissa, as I'm certain you were unaware of, is the Mutt's cousin." The Gryffindor was clearly shocked at this news, the Potions Master noted, thus confirming his earlier statement, "And being that the Order uses Grimmauld Place as a safe house of sorts, it is the only place they would be truly protected."

"What about your place?" Harry pried. He just couldn't stand the thought of sharing the house with Malfoy and his mother, especially not when he finally got to be with Sirius.

"Did you not hear me the first time, you insolent child?" Snape hissed, "Now that my ranks amongst the Dark Lord are non-existent, what on earth could possibly lead you to believe that they would be safe with me?"

"Wait," Harry put two and two together, "You're not moving into Sirius' house too, are you?" he shuddered at the thought.

Severus could not help but to roll his eyes at that one, "No, Potter," he told the boy, "While I'm sure living with both you and the Mutt would be pleasurable, I shall be staying at Hogwarts until it is safe to do otherwise." Harry then opened his mouth to speak, but Snape prevented him from doing so, "And no, Potter, they cannot live here for neither Malfoy is working at the castle."

'Lovely,' Harry thought to himself, 'Just lovely…' He sighed, "Alright, so now can you tell me-"

"It's getting late," Severus cut him off for what was probably like the billionth time that night. "We will finish this discussion throughout your detention next Saturday."

'Great,' the raven-haired teen thought once more, 'More Snape-bonding time…'

"Could you at least tell me what the last Horcrux might be?" Harry tried as Malfoy began making his way towards the door, "Professor Dumbledore said he suspected another, but wouldn't tell me what it was," he told the older man. Deep down he knew Snape wouldn't tell him, but he felt that it was still worth a shot.

As Harry waited patiently for some sort of response, he found himself receiving that look again. Again, he was getting nothing more than pity as his answer to that question. Coming from Dumbledore, the feeling was confusing…but from Snape, to be given such a look was downright creepy.

"Another time," was all the Professor told him before the younger Slytherin came forward and dragged Harry out the door.

"Don't give me that look, Potter, my godfather clearly wasn't going to tell you whatever it was that you wanted to know," he told the Gryffindor who was currently eying him down.

"Fine," Harry sighed, "Whatever, I'm going to bed," and with that he turned to make his way back up to the tower.

Draco was also about to head back to his rooms as well before he remembered something, "Oh, and nice necklace by the way."

At those words, Harry very quickly turned back to face Malfoy, "What did you say?" he asked, disbelievingly.

"Your necklace," he pointed at the pendant hanging around the other boy's neck, "Must've cost whoever gave it to you more than a galleon or two," Draco said.

"Do you know who-?" Harry went to ask.

"All I'll say is that it wasn't me," the Slytherin smirked before heading back to his dormitory. As he walked away, the blonde left a very confused Harry Potter behind.

…

Back in the Gryffindor Common Room Hermione was pacing back and forth quite worriedly. It was only a few minutes away from curfew and her best friend had yet to return from his meeting with Malfoy and his godfather. She still hadn't the slightest clue as to who the man even was and, in turn, started growing more and more concerned with each moment that passed. For all she knew, the man could actually be a deatheater who had succeeded in luring Harry into his trap.

Hermione was just about to go to the headmaster with her fears when she heard a soft tapping coming from the outside of the Fat Lady's portrait. Without giving it a second thought, as she hoped her friend was on the other side, the brunette swung the picture open only to reveal a sixth year Slytherin by the name of Pansy Parkinson.

"Just who I was looking for," the girl told Hermione before she had the chance to say anything. "It's Granger, isn't it?"

**A/N:** Alright, so how was it?

What do you think Pansy wants with Hermione?

Please give me your thoughts and feel free to ask any questions.

I'll answer them at the end of the next chapter.

Also, any opinions you may have can affect the outcome of this story, so don't be shy!

Oh, and I'd like to thank my reviewers so far, for you all give me the inspiration to keep posting.

IceBlueCrystal: to answer your question, things have been altered a bit for the story. Sorry, if I confused you!


	15. Chapter 15

"_So many years, _

_Can leave behind_

_Regretfully, until it's time_

_To realize that moment,_

_When you turn around…_

_I'm coming home_

_To breathe again,_

_To start again"_

_-Calls Me Home_

Chapter 15: Things Have Changed

Past disclaimer applies…

"Look, now's not really the best time-" Hermione tried explaining, desperate to make her way towards the Headmaster's office. Despite being utterly confused as to why the Slytherin would want to talk with her, let alone what about, her concern over Harry overrode any other thoughts at the moment.

"Potter's fine," Pansy told her, "I caught him talking with Draco as I made my way up here," at the uneasy look upon the other girl's face, she went on, "They had a meeting tonight, did they not?"

Hermione nodded, "Yes, but that should have been over with by now," she then curiously inquired, "I take it Malfoy informed you?"

It was Pansy's turn to nod, "Yeah, but that's not important," she stated bluntly, "I need to talk with you."

The Gryffindor crossed her arms, "Well, perhaps tomorrow. Curfew is in less than five minutes and I still need to speak with-"

"Forget curfew," Pansy cut her off, "and your boyfriend's fine for Merlin's sake," she told the opposite brunette, causing her to become slightly flustered, "He's probably still caught up with Draco and Professor Snape."

"Wait," Hermione put two and two together, instantly forgetting the comment Parkinson made about her and Harry, "Professor Snape is Draco's godfather?" she asked.

The Slytherin sighed in frustration, "Yes," she snapped, "Now, I just want to ask you a few questions, alright?"

She hesitated for a few seconds before reluctantly nodding, "Alright," Hermione told her, "But I can't guarantee any answers," she added out of her distrust towards Pansy.

"There's a first," Parkinson muttered, unable to help herself.

Hermione, who still heard the snide remark, gave the pug-faced girl a stern look, "Insulting me will hardly get you anywhere," she crossed her arms, "So, if that is all you intend to do, I'll just head back-"

"Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist, Granger," Pansy rolled her eyes. Sometimes the Gryffindor was too emotional for her own good…

"Then get to the point," Hermione ordered, losing her patience.

"Fine," she said through gritted teeth, trying her absolute best to keep her tone a calm one. As it was, the pureblood was far from fond of the girl before her. 'The things I do for my friends,' Pansy thought to herself before continuing, "Are Weaselette and Thomas like officially an item now?" she asked, quickly.

Hermione couldn't have been more taken by surprise. "Why do you care?" she asked, firmly, once she had gained back her composure.

"Don't answer my question with another question, Granger," Pansy spat. Growing up, that had always been one of her biggest pet peeves. I mean, why bother asking about anything at all if you're just going to get is another inquiry in return? Nothing would ever be resolved that way.

"Well, I never said I would answer any of your questions in the first place, did I?" Hermione pointed out.

Pansy glared at her, "If you won't answer mine then I won't answer yours," she replied in a very Slytherin fashion. In her house, favors were never handed out without some sort of deal or catch being made. Also, she knew that the bookworm always let curiosity get the best of her.

The bushy-haired girl glared back, "They are," she answered shortly, "Now, why did you care so much?"

'Yeah, knowledge is definitely Granger's weakness,' Pansy thought. "I don't," she then told the girl, for it was the truth. She, personally, had no interest in the Weasley girl's dating life.

Thoroughly annoyed at this point, Hermione replied, "Then why are you wasting my time? I have better things to be doing at the moment, you know," she then snapped before Parkinson could get a word in, "I don't understand. You never talk to me, and I have yet to do a thing to you, so what exactly is this all about? It's typically Malfoy and his two 'friends' who are giving us a hard time," she informed her, although Hermione was fairly certain the other girl already knew that. "And we never did anything to him either, come to think of it," she added, "Is it a Slytherin thing?" The Gryffindor asked, "To just be complete-"

"Shut up!" Pansy cut her off, officially losing her temper. "Not caring and not wanting to know are two entirely different things," she began, "I wouldn't have marched all the way up to this bloody tower if I didn't genuinely want that information."

"Then why-?" Hermione began, but Parkinson raised her hand, thus silencing her once more.

"Let me finish," she instructed, without proceeding until she was certain Hermione would allow her to explain herself. "Whatever Draco did to you guys in the past is irrelevant to our conversation," Pansy stated, "And its people like you who continue to give Slytherin house a bad reputation. All of you think that just because we don't go around being super friendly to everyone we are all automatically gits," she then crossed her arms as the other girl had done previously, "We all have our reasons for acting the way we do," she said, lowering her voice now, "It'd be appreciated if you didn't judge us for that," Pansy looked away, "Besides, some of us are made to…" she drifted off, not at all wanting to finish the sentence. It wasn't something she wished to share with anybody, let alone Granger. It was simply too dangerous for her to do.

"Made to what?" Hermione asked, softly. The pain evident in the other girl's voice was enough to put an end to her anger. Well, that, along with curiosity distracting her once more.

"Forget it," the Slytherin looked back up once her mask was in place yet again, "I got what I came here for," she then turned to leave.

"Pansy, wait!" she tried calling after her. Unfortunately, the shouting was to no avail for the shorter girl had quickened her pace and was well on her way back to the dungeons…and although Hermione could have easily followed, it was clear the other girl wasn't in the mood. So, too tired to fight, the Gryffindor went back to her common room and waited for her best friend to return.

All uneasy feelings had washed away upon learning Harry was with Professor Snape, for Hermione, unlike him, trusted the man. Still, what was once worry had been replaced with utter confusion and slight concern…Why Pansy wanted to know about Ginny and Dean was beyond her, but she would soon solve that riddle. What truly had Hermione's mind reeling were the words the other Prefect had muttered before turning away. Was she being made to do something? Or was it Malfoy? She shook her head.

Of one thing Hermione was only certain of: Something had changed amongst Slytherin house…and she was determined to figure out just what.

**A/N:** Please, give me your thoughts on this chapter.

Your reviews keep me going!

I'll try to post as soon as possible.

Thanks!


	16. Chapter 16

"_When she was just a girl_

_She expected the world_

_But it flew away from her reach_

_So she ran away in her sleep_

_And dreamed of Para-Para-Paradise_

_-Paradise_

Chapter 16: A Shoulder to Lean On

Again, past disclaimer applies.

"Hey, Mione," Harry yawned as he finally made it back to the Gryffindor common room. Upon doing so, he found his best friend sitting before the fire, staring more so than actually reading the book in her hands. She quite clearly had something on her mind. "What are you doing up so late?" he started.

Hermione smiled knowingly, "Waiting for you," she told him as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She then placed her book aside and motioned for the other teen to sit beside her. "I said I would, didn't I?" she added as Harry made his way over to her.

"Well yeah," he grinned, tiredly plopping down opposite her. "I just thought that with you being a prefect and all, you'd want to set a good example. Staying up past curfew isn't exactly the best way to do that," Harry teased.

Hermione hit him lightly on the arm, ignoring the false accusations that it had actually hurt afterwards. "I'll have you know that prefects are supposed to stay up at least thirty minutes or so after bed time to make sure the younger students don't go lurking after hours."

Harry smirked, "Never stopped us."

At those words, she turned her gaze back to the fire, trying not to reminisce too much at the moment. The memories were nice, but more painful than anything.

"Hey," he broke Hermione out of her reverie, "Smile, won't you?" Harry draped an arm around her shoulders. "It's been a long day," he have her a squeeze, "So let's not spend what's left of it upset, alright?" Honestly, Harry was simply too tired to deal with any more drama.

Hermione nodded in agreement, "You're right," she then changed the subject. "How did your meetings with Dumbledore, Professor Snape, and Draco go?"

"How did you know Snape-?"

"Well…" She then proceeded to tell Harry about her unusual meeting with Pansy. Hermione, did not, however, give him the details about what it was exactly the other girl had wanted to know. Although she hated lying, she merely told him that Pansy had come to her with questions regarding the last Prefect meeting as she was about to go and search for him. Telling Harry about the Slytherin's interest in his late best friend's sister would only put him on edge.

"Could this night get any odder?" Harry asked somewhat to himself.

"What do you mean?" she asked, not knowing the details behind either of his meetings.

Harry removed his arm from around Hermione and turned to face her, fully. "See, it all started when Dumbledore had me look at these memories…"

Towards the end of his tale, his friend snapped, "Harry!" she said disapprovingly, "You've already got yourself a detention? The term hasn't even officially started yet!"

Harry gave her a look of disbelief, "It wasn't my fault! Snape's just a-"

"Git?" Neville finished for him. The brunette boy had been woken up by the sudden shouting coming from below the dorms. Not wanting anyone else to be disturbed, he cast a silencing charm and made his way into the common room to tell whoever was there to keep it down.

"Oh, I'm sorry Neville," Hermione apologized, guiltily. "We didn't mean to wake you."

He simply brushed it off, "No worries. Just be grateful nobody else heard you lot. I placed a silencing charm about the dorms before I left," he informed them.

"Thanks," Harry mumbled, still slightly peeved. Hermione could be just as bad as Snape sometimes, the way she reprimanded him constantly.

"Do you want me to head back up?" Neville asked. They were each giving him the same look most people did whenever he showed up. It was the "Please go away" one. He knew it all too well.

"Please," Hermione answered, "It's nothing personal. I just wanted to talk with Harry privately for a bit," she smiled weakly.

"Yeah, I'll follow you shortly, Nev," Harry chimed in, not wanting their friend to feel out of place.

Still, the other boy merely nodded and turned away.

"I feel terrible," Hermione instantly admitted once Neville was out of earshot. She gave Harry a shameful look, "Maybe you should just go to bed. We can discuss the rest tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" Harry inquired, knowing she was probably eager to know more about Dumbledore's approaching fate and Snape's role as a spy.

"Well," Hermione began, for knowledge truly was her weakness, "I suppose five more minutes wouldn't hurt."

At that, her friend smiled for the first time since she had angered him. He then went on to tell her about Snape's unusual demeanor regarding his question about the horcruxes, and how Malfoy, along with his mum, would be his new roommates. Harry ended it all with Draco's vague input towards the pendant he had received for his birthday.

"Hmm…" Hermione wasn't sure where to start. "It could be a good thing, you know," she spoke up several moments later.

"You mean living with the Malfoy's?" he gawked.

"Yes," she replied, shortly. "If what Draco said was true," Hermione said, referring to what the Slytherin told Harry about the relationship he had with his father, "Then maybe the two of you could finally get past-"

"You can't be serious," Harry cut her off from what he knew she was about to say. "Just because he now has this accuse for treating us the way he did in the past, doesn't mean that I'm willing to forgive the prat for it."

"But Harry, if you think about it, most of what took place wasn't really his fault," she said, honestly. "It may take some time-"

"Hermione, there isn't enough time in the world for how long it would take for me to be friends with Malfoy."

"I'm not asking for you to become best mates with Draco, Harry," she informed the other teen, "There's just no sense in fighting with him anymore. Especially since the two of you will be sharing the same house, like it or not."

Harry sighed. He supposed Hermione was right. Trying not to lash out at one another, he could manage. Becoming friends, well it was as he said, that wasn't likely to happen. Besides, the Gryffindor wanted his new home to be a peaceful place. If he was going at it with Malfoy all the time, Harry would have to be constantly looking over his shoulder, wondering what trap he would fall into next.

"If Sirius is okay with all of this, then there's no reason as to why you shouldn't be able to handle the situation also," Hermione pointed out, breaking Harry's train of thought.

"What makes you think he's alright with it?" he asked her, "I mean if Dumbledore asked for Sirius to share Grimmauld place, there wouldn't be much he could do about it." Harry said, for it was the truth. When the headmaster wanted something done, there was no defying him.

"He and Mrs. Malfoy are cousins, are they not?" Hermione asked, already knowing the answer. He just nodded. "Well, your godfather has a heart, Harry. Regardless of whatever she may have done to him in the past, they are family. I'm sure he wouldn't just turn his back on her."

Although he didn't like knowing that his last remaining family member was related to the Malfoy's, Harry knew what she was saying to be true.

"Well, I don't have to like it," he murmured, looking away from the bushy haired girl.

Hermione laughed, "I never said you had to," she gently ruffled his hair, "Just try to deal with it a bit better, alright?" She looked into his eyes.

Harry smiled, unable to reject her request, "Okay, I'll give it a go." He then stood and lent Hermione his hand in order to help her up.

"Good," his best friend said once she was at her feet. Before they went their separate ways for the night, she let him know, "You might be able to get Professor Snape to talk during your detention."

Hoping she was right, Harry just responded with a short, "Yeah," but then added, "It is Snape, though…"

Hermione shook her head, "Anything's possible. Just don't irritate him too much."

"That's like telling me never to play quidditch again, Mione," he laughed. "Impossible." Seriously, how many unimaginable things was she going to ask of him tonight?

Unable to help it, she laughed as well. "We'll finish this conversation tomorrow, yes?"

"Of course," he agreed. "I would say during our free period, but I'll be using that time to arrange tryouts."

"That's right," Hermione beamed at him, "Congratulations on making captain."

"Thanks," Harry smiled brightly back at her. "I bet you'll be using that time to study anyways, right?" he prodded at his friend.

"You know me all too well," Hermione retorted sarcastically. "Oh, and before I forget," she suddenly remembered, "Remus-or should I say, Professor Lupin, will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year!" she said excitedly.

"Really?" Harry was shocked. "What about the parents, though? I thought they didn't want a werewolf living under the same roof as their kids." He reminded her. Back in third year there were so many objections that Lupin had no choice but to leave. Parents were even threatening to have their children removed from Hogwarts all together.

"Well, it's as you said," she smirked, "When Dumbledore wants something done, there's nothing anybody else can do about it. He can be very persuasive when he wants to be."

"Tell me about it," Harry rolled his eyes, still thrilled that his favorite Professor would be back to teach.

Hermione yawned, "I think I'll be going to sleep now." She then gave her friend a short hug and another peck on the cheek, "Goodnight, Harry," she told him before briskly making her way up to the girl's dormitory.

Blushing with a soft smile, Harry too made his way up to bed.

…

Upon entering the boy's dormitory, Harry couldn't help but to look over at the empty bed beside his. He stared at it for a long while before sighing and getting under his own sheets. However, it was then that the teen found it extremely difficult to fall asleep. The sound of Ron's loud snoring was no longer there and it made the room eerily quiet. The only things to be heard now were the sounds of Neville's toad's occasionally croaking, and Lyra's soft purring.

So, knowing that he would be unable to fall asleep this night, Harry pulled out a piece of parchment, along with his quill, and wrote a letter to his godfather.

He closed the curtains around his bed and softly spoke, "Lumos," before beginning:

_Padfoot, _(he used the man's nickname, still, despite the fact that he had been proven innocent)

_I just heard the news that Moony has returned to Hogwarts. Did you know about this? They didn't introduce him during the Welcoming Feast for some reason…but I can take a wild guess as to why. Still, it's great to finally have him back._

_How's work with the twin's going? Spending each day at their joke shop has got to be loads of fun. The pygmy puffs are annoying though, aren't they? Lyra never shuts up. It was nice of Ginny to get me one and all, it's just I honestly think this puffball has it out for me. Don't even laugh! It's true, I swear it._

_So, have you been able to come up with any new ideas for pranks or tricks? Let me know, because I bet you have._

_By the way, I had a meeting with Snape tonight. Before you go to ask, it's a long story. I'll explain it all over Christmas break. _

_What I wanted to know was how you feel about the Malfoy's moving into Grimmauld Place. Have you known about this for a while or was the news sudden to you as well? I mean, not to sound selfish, but it seems that just when I get out of living with the Dursley's, I get Malfoy as my new roommate, of all people. Without being sarcastic here, if it weren't for you, I'd probably stick with Privet Drive. My aunt, uncle, and cousin would probably be better than living with that prat. Oh well, I suppose._

_On a better note, I made quidditch captain this year. It's probably the best thing to happen so far, even though it's only been a day…having Hermione around helps also, though. She keeps me from acting stupidly most times. Me finding out about the entire Malfoy situation would just be one of the many examples. Mione gives the best advice, truly. _

_Well, I really don't know what else to write for now so I suppose I'll hand this over to Hedwig. _

_Write back soon,_

_Your Godson_

After folding the letter and placing it within an envelope, Harry put it on the nightstand beside his bed, planning on taking it up to the owlery at some point throughout the next day. For now, he would try in vain to get some sleep.

…

Over in the girl's dormitory, Hermione could be found quietly making her way over to the room beside the one she shared with the girls in her year.

Entering the small room filled with the sleeping fifth year Gryffindors, she gently woke up the only one with fiery red hair.

"Huh?" the younger girl asked sleepily, "What time is it?" she sat up, finding her friend sitting at the edge of her bed.

"Sorry," Hermione quickly apologized before casting a silencing charm around them, "I know it's late, but this really couldn't wait until morning."

Ginny shook her head, "That's okay," she put the other girl at ease. Rubbing her eyes, she asked, "What is it you needed to tell me?"

The brunette sighed, not exactly sure how to say what she was about to. After a few seconds she supposed it would be best to be blunt. That being said, Hermione came right out and told the youngest Weasley about her encounter with Pansy. She also told the other girl about the odd looks Draco had given her during dinner.

Once that was done, before the red-head could comment, Hermione added, "Just don't tell Harry. I told him everything except the part where she asked me about you. I didn't want him to worry," she bit her lip nervously.

"No, I won't," Ginny reassured her. "It's just all so weird," she admitted. "You don't think Parkinson wanted to know for Malfoy, do you?" she asked, hoping dearly that it wasn't the case.

Upon giving the idea some thought, everything started coming together for Hermione. "Of course," she whispered loudly, "That's highly logical." Giving her friend a pointed look, the older girl put in, "I'll make sure nothing comes of it, alright?"

Ginny only took a deep breath, attempting to absorb all of this disturbing information. "Why don't we just see what happens? Play it all out."

Hermione considered it for a brief moment, "But what about Dean? Won't he get annoyed at whatever Draco or Pansy might try with you?"

Her friend looked away, sadly. "We aren't exactly together anymore."

"What?" Hermione sputtered. "But just a couple of hours ago-"

"No," Ginny cut off, "We've been going at it for a while now," she said quietly, "As bad as this sounds, half the reason we even started a relationship was because I needed somebody to lean on after what had happened. Over time, I think Dean realized that and decided to officially call it quits. I don't blame him or anything, and I know we'll still be friends…it's still upsetting, though."

Instead of judging or putting her friend down, Hermione nodded in understanding. Surely if the brunette had been around or communicated with anybody so soon after the incident, she may have taken advantage of them too.

"Well, I'm still sorry to hear that, Gin," she placed a comforting hand upon the girl's slumped shoulder.

Ginny just shrugged, "It was for the best," she said truthfully, "Had I been in his shoes, I probably would have done the same thing."

Hermione really couldn't deny that, for she could relate. "I'll let you get some sleep now," she gave her friend a soft smile. "We'll do as you said," she told her as she got up, "Play this out and see where it goes."

The red-head nodded and rested her head back onto her pillow, "Should be interesting," she said.

"I'll still keep an eye out for any tricks, though," Hermione let her know.

"I know," Ginny smiled. "Night, Mione."

Making her way out of the room, her friend merely whispered, "Goodnight," before finally heading to bed.

**A/N:**Hey guys!

Alright, well, please let me know what you thought of this chapter.

If you'd like me to continue, just say so, and if you have any questions, just ask.

If you've been reading and have yet to review, please do so!

Advice and input keep me going.

Thanks!


	17. Chapter 17

"_We have had the time of our lives,_

_And now the page is turned…_

_The stories we will write_

_We have had the time of our lives_

_And I will not forget_

_The faces left behind"_

_-Time of Our Lives_

Chapter 17: It All Started With A Sopophorous Bean

Nope, don't own Potter…Just the plot here.

The next morning both Harry and Hermione made their way into the Great Hall. Just by glancing at them one could tell they were thoroughly exhausted. Nobody would've been surprised either, given what had happened last year. Shockingly enough, however, Ron's absence wasn't the cause for Hermione's insomnia. It was only Harry's.

No, the bushy-haired girl had been left staring at the ceiling all night because of the younger Weasley instead. She was still incredibly concerned and even more so confused over the entire situation that revolved around a certain Slytherin who, for some reason, just loved to hate her…or at least had. Hermione was just so befuddled.

"Is something on your mind?" Harry asked his best friend as they took their seats in the Great Hall for breakfast. He could instantly tell that something wasn't settling right with her and had dared to ask just what it was.

Hermione sighed, "It's just," she turned to look at the Slytherin table over her shoulder. There, Draco could be found having another happy-go-lucky time with his friends whilst enjoying a meal. "I can't wrap my head around this. I mean, why would he-" Here, the Gryffindor stopped abruptly to prevent her overly-tired self from revealing the rest of what she was about to say. Hermione still hadn't told Harry about what she and Ginny discovered and definitely wasn't planning to any time soon, despite the fact that it was eating her up inside.

"Why would he show such sudden interest in Gin?" Harry supplied. "I've been wondering about that too. I mean, ever since dinner last night I couldn't get it out of my head."

Not wanting those emerald eyes filled with so much worry, Hermione lied to him once more, "I'm sure it's nothing. Draco probably had other things on his mind that caused him to draw up those looks. Whether or not they were purposefully directed at Ginny could've been accidental. I know for a fact that when most people get caught up in a train of thought they are no longer fully aware of their surroundings."

Harry couldn't help but to let out a small laugh, "You'd know that better than anybody," he then shook his head as if to clear his mind, "I suppose there's no need to stress over the matter any longer then, is there?" he made sure.

Inwardly cursing herself, Hermione forced a smile and falsely reassured her friend, "Of course not. It would be best to just forget about it, really."

Not long after Harry had agreed with Hermione, Ginny had walked into the Hall rather quickly giving her friends a look of apprehension.

"Ginny, what is it?" Hermione asked before the other girl had even made it all the way over to them.

"I need to talk to you," the youngest Weasley said briskly. She then pulled the older girl up and dragged her away before Harry could even begin to register what was happening. All he had heard was Hermione shout, "See you in Potions!" before she had been taken, leaving her bowl of oatmeal untouched.

…

"What's wrong?" Hermione immediately asked once she and Ginny had made it into the girl's bathroom on the second floor.

"Well," the red-head began, "After you left, I wasn't able to get much sleep," here, the girl raised a hand to silence Hermione, who was clearly about to apologize, "It's not your fault," she informed her before continuing, "From about midnight on I couldn't even force myself doze off. So, this morning I left the common room about an hour before I knew breakfast was to start and headed up to the owlery." Ginny then explained, "Mum and dad usually send all of us a letter on the first day back and since I couldn't very well sleep I decided against waiting for the post to arrive later in the morning." After Hermione expressed that she understood, she went on, "While I did get their letter, I also got this," Ginny retrieved a letter from her pocket and with shaky hands, gave it over to her friend.

Curious, Hermione hastily pulled the piece of parchment out from its envelope and read it aloud:

_Weasley,_

_Meet me out at the Quidditch Pitch Wednesday night._

_I have a favor to ask of you._

Both girls had strained their eyes when it came to reading the initials that signed the small note for they were smudged enough to the point where neither could tell whether or not the person's name began with a "C" or "D". The only thing they could be sure of was that whoever this was from, their last name started with the letter "M".

"You don't think it could be from Malfoy, do you?" Ginny asked, silently wishing that it wasn't.

"I can't be sure," Hermione answered honestly. "I mean, I could understand why he might be wanting to meet with you," she admitted, "But two things don't add up."

"What's that?" the other girl asked all too quickly.

"Well, it would be much too soon to even consider making any sort of move," the brunette said, rationally, "and even so, I can't imagine Draco needing a favor done. Let alone why he would ask you to do it, considering the circumstances," Hermione concluded. It all made sense in her head. I mean, if Malfoy truly wanted Ginny in a sense that didn't involve merely using her, then it was highly unlikely that he was the one who sent the letter she was holding.

"But who else do we know here at Hogwarts that has a last name beginning with an 'M'?"

Hermione shook her head, "I'll have to work on that one," she then looked up from the paper she had been analyzing for so long and told Ginny, "Just give me until tomorrow evening. By then I should have a list narrowed down and will be able to determine whether or not it's actually safe for you to meet this person."

Ginny agreed to it simply because she couldn't come up with another alternative. Hermione's plan appeared to be the most sensible thing to do at this point.

"Alright," the red-head responded aloud, "We best be getting to class then," she advised, pulling the small bag she used to hold books back over her shoulder. "It's bad enough we missed breakfast. The morning would only be worse if we were late to class as well."

"Yeah, a prefect receiving a detention at the start of term wouldn't be setting a great example, would it?" Hermione managed a real smile for the first time since she had left the dormitory that morning.

"Definitely not," Ginny smiled back, turning to leave the haunted room.

But before she was able to make it half-way out the door, Hermione had caught up and linked her arm through Ginny's. "Let's walk together," she suggested. "Transfiguration is on the way to Potions, anyhow."

More than happy to have someone by her side after spending so much time feeling isolated, Ginny made her way to class escorted by the prefect.

…

Barely making it on time to Potions, which was very much unlike Hermione Granger, she entered only to find the seat she usually occupied to be taken. Seated beside Harry was none other than Pansy herself. And now for the second time that morning Hermione became extremely worried. She wasn't sure if the Slytherin would ask Harry any of the same questions she had to her last night. Why else would Pansy willingly sit by a Gryffindor? It was the only logical answer she could come up with.

Unfortunately, before Hermione could do anything about her current situation, Professor Snape had made his appearance. Robes billowing behind the man as he had passed her, Hermione found the only seat left available was at the table beside Harry's. Who was the other student sitting there, you ask? Well, none other than Malfoy, of course.

Could the day have even possibly started off worse than it already had? Hermione thought sarcastically as she hesitantly sat down.

"What took you?" Harry hissed across the short distance between him and his friend.

The brunette was only able to manage an apologetic look to that for the Professor had then decided to begin class.

"Now," Snape began in a harsh tone, "As most of you are aware, this year I have allowed those who scored 'Exceeds Expectations' on their O.W.L's into my class. Why, you may ask?" the room remained silent. "Only a short few of those here today managed to retain six years worth of repeated information," he answered. "Therefore, the number of students required for this class was not met. That is why more than eighty-five percent of you stand here now. Be grateful," at this, he shot a dark look towards Harry, which wasn't much of a shocker to anybody there. It was done every year, without fail.

"Moving on…" Professor Snape then proceeded to lecture his students on exactly what kind of potion they would be brewing along with the steps on how to do so.

…

Half an hour later, Hermione found herself working on Draught of the Living Death with, much to her dismay, Draco as her partner.

"I thought we were trying to cut those up, not send them flying across the classroom," Malfoy snapped at Hermione as she had been unsuccessful in releasing the sopophorous bean juice into their cauldron.

"And I thought you were going to stop being such a prat," she muttered to herself quietly so that the Slytherin didn't hear. "Why don't you try, then?" she said louder, shoving the remaining beans in his direction.

"Fine," he retorted with less venom laced in his voice this time. Draco then grabbed the small, black, ingredient and took the blade Hermione previously held to it. Despite his determination to prove the girl wrong, all he managed to do was cause her to laugh as the sopophorous bean flew up and hit him square in the face.

"Think that's funny, do you?" the now red-faced Slytherin spat. All he received as his answer was more laughter from Granger so, without giving it much thought, he took one of the annoying beans and attempted to chuck it at her head. The shot, regretfully for him, missed as she had seen it coming and turned away. No, instead the thing flew passed Hermione and belted Potter.

"Hey!" the Gryffindor shouted in annoyance. Thinking Malfoy had hit him intentionally; Harry picked the bean back up and tossed it over in the other boy's area.

Ducking in order to avoid being tagged, the item pinned the back of Crabbe's head, not his.

"You'll pay for that, Potter!" the plump Slytherin informed him, taking the bean and flinging it forcefully back at the smaller teen.

Luckily for him, though, Vincent wasn't the most graceful person and had ended up missing his target by a long shot, nailing Seamus instead. And that's when all hell broke loose.

A "potions ingredient fight" had begun.

**A/N:**Hi Everyone!

So, this concludes Chapter 17.

Please, give me your thoughts and suggestions.

Reviews inspire me to update sooner, and

Thanks to those who have so far!

I truly appreciate it.


	18. Chapter 18

"_I made a mistake_

_I think I took a wrong turn_

_Somewhere along the way_

_I sealed my fate_

_And all I know is your gone_

_Yeah, you're gone away_

_I'll never touch your face…_

_I'll never see you again"_

_-Wrong Turn_

Chapter 18: Uncomfortable Encounters

The usual disclaimer applies.

"Did that really just happen?" Harry asked unbelievingly as he and Hermione exited the dungeons.

Pale-faced, she replied with an almost robotic tone, "Yes, and now we've all received detention for the next three Friday evenings." Hermione just could not cope with that fact. She (and Neville for that matter) had just been made prefects and were supposed to be setting a good example for Gryffindor house, not completely mucking up the Potions classroom and getting themselves into massive trouble for no purpose whatsoever.

Harry shook his head, "At least they're not with Snape," he told her, "its bad enough I've got this next Saturday with him." He then added, "Going from a full night of scrubbing cauldrons for him right to an entire morning chopping up ingredients would just be torture."

"Oh, I highly doubt Professor Snape will be allowing any of us near so much as a rat spleen any time soon."

"If ever," Harry laughed, feeling somewhat hopeful on his words. He genuinely disliked brewing.

Hermione managed to crack a smile, "Well, I just hope it was worth it."

"You can't be serious," Seamus interrupted, coming up behind the two. "Did you not see the look on the Professor's face? Priceless," he patted Harry on the back and walked off to catch up with Dean before either could respond.

"Yeah, it was definitely worth it," Harry grinned widely, remembering how shocked Snape was when he first realized what was happening. Then, when the Potion's master actually got smacked with a sopophorous bean, well, that soon went up on Harry's 'Top 5 Best Moments Ever'.

"It better have been," cut in Pansy who hadn't been far behind seeing as she too had DADA next period. "I've never seen Professor Snape so livid."

Harry shuddered, recalling how explosive Snape had been, "You have Malfoy to thank for that one," he reminded her. Despite the fact that the whole ordeal was utterly hilarious, when it all came down to it, the Slytherin seeker had started it, thus causing Snape to seek wrath on them all.

"Please, if Granger had just cut up the bean properly in the first place, then none of us would be soon living out a miserable night." Draco said, walking in stride beside Pansy.

'Speak of the devil,' Harry thought before replying, "Don't blame her," he defended.

"You're the one who lost it when the thing hit you in the face," Parkinson chimed in.

Hermione, who was shocked that the other brunette was actually taking their side, agreed.

"Why are you even talking to us?" Harry asked before the blonde could argue.

"Draco, honestly, go take a walk, won't you?" Pansy ordered, more so than suggested.

"What's your problem?" he inquired, ignoring Potter's question.

"Last night," she said bluntly, "You ignored me."

"So?" Malfoy asked, not seeing the issue.

"_So,_" she stressed the word, "I wanted to discuss your meeting and you completely blew me off."

"I was tired," he informed her. "Besides, you're not my girlfriend. I'm not obligated to talk to you when I'm not up for it."

"Thank Merlin for that," Pansy muttered, for Blaise was the boy she was currently seeing. Her friend was such a git at times. "Yeah, and you're not my boyfriend," she used Draco's statement against him. "I neither have to talk to you when I don't want to do so. That being said," She spat, "go away."

With a glare, Malfoy did as she said and sped up to walk alongside Crabbe and Goyle to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Pansy, can I speak with you for a moment?" Hermione asked, coming to a stop as they were about to go up the Grand Staircase. After the other girl reluctantly nodded, she turned to Harry, "I'll see you in class," Hermione gave him a short hug, "We're ahead of time as it is being that Professor Snape dismissed us early today."

"Hey, he had other things to do," Harry smirked, knowing that the man was probably still dealing with their mess at the moment. He then took his leave, wondering why the Slytherins had decided to be uncomfortably friendly with them all of a sudden. Malfoy's excuse just couldn't be the only reason. Could it?

…

"What do you want?" Pansy asked rather harshly after Potter had left.

"Did you tell him anything?" Hermione got straight to the point.

"Tell him what, exactly?" she pried, annoyed.

The Gryffindor sighed, "About the topics we discussed last night."

"You mean about Weaselette?"

Hermione nodded.

"No, of course not," Pansy assured her quickly, "I'm sure you were smart enough and put two and two together," she eyed the taller girl.

Again, she nodded, "Yes, and Ginny knows."

The Slytherin rolled her eyes in exasperation. She really didn't want everybody finding out.

"She was obviously going to figure it out sooner or later," Hermione said, honestly.

"You haven't told anybody else, have you?"

"No," she took her turn in giving reassurance, "That's why I asked if you had talked to Harry about it."

Pansy let out the breath she had been holding, "Good." She then asked out of sheer curiosity, "But why don't you want him to know?"

"He has enough things to worry over right now," she told her flat out.

"I take it you don't fancy the idea of Weaselette and-"

"Not at all," Hermione cut her off quickly, not wanting that particular mental image. How this whole situation came to be, she couldn't fathom. It was simply all too odd for her liking.

Pansy let out a near evil laugh, "Well, I'm off," she said, making her way up the staircase, "I promised Blaise I'd meet up with him before class."

"Isn't he going to be in there as well?"

"Well yes, but seeing as we've got nearly fifteen minutes to spare-"

"Nevermind," Hermione said quite fast, "Just go," she sputtered, avoiding the gruesome details that were to come.

Pansy merely smirked and turned to leave.

"Wait," the other prefect spoke up before she made it up a step.

"Yes?" she asked, tiredly.

"Why are you being so-?"

"Willing to put up with you?" Parkinson offered. The thought of her lot actually being 'nice' to the Gryffindors was still too much to handle, for that simply wasn't done in the Slytherin house, family obligations or not.

"I suppose," Hermione compromised, hoping for an answer.

"I don't know," she said, disappointing Granger. "Do you want us to stop?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Hermione replied. "I mean," she cleared her throat, "it's just nice not having you all fighting with us every day," she explained.

"Understandable," Pansy half-smiled, "Well, I'll be seeing you then?"

"Sure," she nodded, feeling something other than pure hatred towards her for the first time. Noticing this, Hermione began to question her sanity as the other prefect went out of sight.

…

"I can't believe you're really back," Harry entered the DADA room early just to see his favorite Professor. Honestly, he just couldn't contain his excitement.

"Harry," Remus smiled, opening his arms to greet his best friend's godson. "How have you been?" he asked, after letting him out of the hug.

"Pretty…alright," he answered. Truthfully, Harry didn't know how to respond to that. The year had only just started and already, it managed to turn into a rollercoaster of different emotions. From his unusual meetings, warm conversations with Hermione, and then the unforgettable potions ingredient fight, he wasn't sure what to feel.

"Hmm…" Lupin wanted to discuss the matter further, but knew that within the next five minutes students would be barging through his door, "Why don't we hold a meeting this coming Friday evening? We could catch up a bit," the man told his 'cub'. It had been nearly three months since they last spoke properly.

"Um," Harry looked down, suddenly finding his shoes incredibly interesting, "I actually have to be somewhere…"

"Oh," was all Remus said as his heart sank a tad. He assumed the boy, in reality, didn't want to see him outside of class. "Maybe Saturday?" he tried again.

The younger Gryffindor turned slightly red, "I'll be busy then, too."

"Well, then," the werewolf straightened his back, "I better be setting up for class," he told Harry, checking the time. Two minutes until the teaching finally began.

Realizing that he was giving Lupin the wrong idea, he tried fixing it, "How about Sunday evening?" he suggested, hating his busy schedule. Friday he would be in detention, Saturday would unfortunately be the same along with loads of homework, then throughout most of Sunday he would be holding the Quidditch tryouts he had to postpone.

Grinning and feeling ridiculous for his previous feelings, Remus happily agreed just before the classroom door opened.

…

Monday and Tuesday seemed to fly by for Hermione. Before she knew it, Wednesday was here and Ginny's anonymous meeting was soon to be held. The older girl had spent all of her free time (which, unfortunately, wasn't much) working on the list she had promised her friend. So far, the only names she had come up with were: Cormac McLaggen and Draco Malfoy. With C or D being the first letter and M definitely being the last, there wasn't much to go by. Those two were the only possible suspects…and Ginny was far from pleased with that fact.

"It has to be Malfoy," she sighed.

"There's a chance it could be Cormac," Hermione said, just as hopeful as her friend that it wouldn't be the Slytherin.

"Doubtful," the red-head retorted, pessimistically.

As the other girl had previously done, Hermione sighed, not knowing what else she could say on the matter.

"I'm just going get this over with," Ginny told her several minutes after pointlessly staring at the note. Before she could exit the Fat Lady's portrait, the brunette caught her arm.

"I'll be going with you," she said. "I've got Harry's invisibility cloak so you don't need to worry about me being seen," she filled her in before any argument could be made.

"How did you get that?" Ginny couldn't help but to ask seeing as the item was once in the bottom of their friend's trunk, inside the boy's dormitory no less.

"Does it matter?"

"Well, is he even aware that you have it?"

Hermione's guilty expression was answer enough.

"Let's go," Ginny said, abruptly dragging her friend from the common room. This was going to be interesting.

…

Ten minutes later, Hermione was successfully hidden from view and standing behind her friend at the quidditch pitch.

"Are you sure about this?" Ginny asked, trying her best not to move her lips too much. She didn't want to look like some nutter talking to herself.

"No," the other girl replied, honestly. "But I've got your back," she reassured her.

Feeling extremely nervous at Hermione's answer, Ginny was just about to bolt when the no longer anonymous student made their appearance.

"Fancy running into you here," he smirked.

There was a look on his face that made both girls' extremely uncomfortable. Clearly, something was up…

**A/N****: **I know you're out there…

Just review, would ya?

Ha-ha _:)_

I am incredibly grateful to those of you who have taken the time to do so!

Please give me your opinions on Chapter 18, okay?

Thanks!

Also: I changed Ginny's meeting to Wednesday (also in the previous chapter) because it fit the plot better. I apologize for any confusion.


	19. Chapter 19

"_There's something in the water_

_I do not feel safe_

_It always feels like torture_

_To be this close_

_I wish that I was stronger_

_I'd separate the waves_

_Not just let the water_

_Take me away"_

_-The Water_

Chapter 19: Caught in the Crossfire

Disclaimer: Plot-Mine, Potter-Not mine.

"Yeah, what a coincidence," Ginny told him sarcastically after regaining her composure.

Invisible, Hermione carefully moved a bit closer to better hear the two's conversation as the older boy drew nearer to her friend.

"No need to be nasty," he told the red-head, finally standing face-to-face with her. "I just have a simple favor to ask of you."

"That much was clear from your poorly written note," Ginny stated, crossing her arms in annoyance.

He sighed, "I wrote that in a hurry. It was just before curfew on our first night back and I didn't want to be late coming back from the owlery."

"Please," she scoffed, "Your hand-writing is just naturally atrocious."

"Could you at least try to be civil?" the blonde snapped. "I know your brother and I weren't the best of friends, but that's no reason to-"

Ginny's crossed arms fell quickly to her sides and her hands balled up into tight, angry fists. She took a step closer to him, despite her friend's whispered protests, "Don't drag Ron into this," she spat furiously, "You have no right."

He took a step in the opposite direction, yet defended himself, "Just as you haven't the right to treat me poorly based on my past relationship with another person," he informed her, kindly refraining from mentioning her brother's name again. Still, he kept his overly styled head of hair high, refusing to back down.

"You really aren't in any position to be making demands seeing as you're the one who needs a favor doing," the Gryffindor told him, relaxing slightly at Hermione's unseen hand being soothingly placed upon her shoulder.

"Right, well," he cleared his throat, stifling a rude retort as her words held true, "I guess I'll get straight to the point then."

"That would be lovely," Ginny said in a snarky tone. The brunette had to refrain from laughing as it would've probably frightened the boy who had no idea she was even there.

Preventing himself from uttering a rude comment again, he finally came out with it, "You're still pretty close mates with Potter, right?"

She merely nodded, not seeing the point.

"And you're definitely going to try out for the team this year?" he asked.

Again, she nodded her head, but this time it was with a look of sheer confusion across her face.

"So, you're probably locked in already, am I right?"

"No," Ginny replied, slightly peeved, "Being friends with the captain doesn't seal the deal. He can't make those types of exceptions under any circumstances. Harry takes quidditch seriously."

"I'm sure he does," the taller teen agreed, "I still bet that you'll more than qualify for a spot in his eyes, though."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked somewhat harshly. Even Hermione was becoming frustrated.

"Nothing," he smirked. "You two just seem awfully close lately."

Hermione felt her face grow hot.

"We've hardly talked within these past four days," Ginny informed him.

"Yes, well I'm sure you had plenty of time to do so while he was staying at your place all summer," he winked at her, knowingly.

The other girl was really tensing up now.

"How did you-" Ginny went to ask.

"Potter's there every summer from what I've heard," the older Gryffindor let her know, "It's never been some big secret."

"Well, if that were true, then why would you assume Harry and I decided to suddenly couple up? If he's there all the time, what would make things so different now?"

"I just assumed, what with the big brother being out of the way-"

Ginny drew her wand, "Listen," she hissed, "You best not speak of my brother like that again if you want all parts of your body to remain intact," she warned.

His eyes widened.

At that, the invisible Hermione made her way to stand between them in order to prevent the fight she knew her friend was more than willing to start.

"Go," Ginny ordered, for if he didn't comply she would surely use her wand against him soon.

Backing away, he still tried, "So I take it you won't be talking Potter into promising a place for me on the team?"

Oh, that was it.

Right as the angry red-head raised her wand, the frightened blonde quickly took his leave, getting out of the way from whatever spell was soon to be shot his way.

It all happened so fast, that while Ginny's target may have safely dodged the bullet, her friend wasn't so lucky.

Still standing right in front of the other girl, Hermione took Ginny's bat-bogey hex with full force, knocking her to the ground and causing the invisibility cloak to come off.

Fortunately, the Gryffindor who previously ran off did not see this display.

"Ginny!" her friend shrieked loudly as disgusting balls of snot with wings began attacking her.

Shocked, she shouted, "Finite incantatem!" abruptly stopping the spell.

"Mione, I am so sorry," Ginny apologized with a guilty expression, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips, nevertheless. While she didn't mean for this to happen, the outcome was still hilarious. The sight of the distressed brunette all covered with bogeys was enough to make anybody laugh.

Noticing the amused expression on the younger girl's face, Hermione just scorgified herself clean and didn't respond.

"Oh, c'mon," Ginny pleaded, "Don't be upset."

"You could've handled that situation a bit more maturely," the prefect said with a stern look.

"I tried!" she protested, "He was just being such a git, though. I couldn't help myself."

Understanding, as she had also been there throughout their conversation, Hermione advised, "Yes, well, if you plan on attacking Cormac again, try for some better aim next time, at least," she half-smiled. Deep down, she wanted her friend to seek vengeance on McLaggen. She would do it herself if it wasn't for her status as a prefect.

"Oh, I'll be dead on," Ginny reassured her, "But I think I'll try a few of Fred and George's new products out on him instead," she smirked, "They've been looking for a new test subject anyhow."

Hermione shook her head, but still managed a laugh, "Just keep me out of it."

"You don't want to see McLaggen be completely humiliated?" she pried.

"Of course I do," Hermione said, reflecting back on the comments he had made about her two friends, "I can't be associated with what you are about to do, though. I may have to report it."

"Right," Ginny went along with it, "Can't let miss authority find out or else I'll be trapped in detention until I graduate."

Both girls laughed at that, "Let's head back inside before it gets dark out, shall we?" Hermione suggested.

"Good idea," she agreed, "I still need to feed Arnold before bed."

"You know Harry still hasn't managed to control Lyra? The pygmy puff sings nearly every waking moment as if she has endless energy."

Ginny smiled in amusement, "Yeah, I think that's why the twins gave her to me for free," she informed her friend, "I didn't understand why they seemed so desperate to get rid of Lyra until the night before I gave her to Harry when I had to keep her in my room."

"I remember that night," Hermione reminisced, "I thought that was Arnold."

"No, if my pet were anything like Lyra is I'd have been tempted to strangle it," she laughed.

"Yet you still gave her to Harry," the brunette looked over at her disapprovingly as they made their way towards the entrance hall.

"Hey," Ginny defended, "It's still the thought that counts, right?" she said playfully.

"You're awful," Hermione giggled, but then said, "Honestly, I just think Lyra needs some proper training. That's all it really takes with most animals. Patience and love," she concluded.

"Why don't you get a pygmy puff, then?" Ginny challenged, "Prove Harry wrong?"

"That's actually not a bad idea," she mused.

"Well, I'll place an order for you tomorrow and then we'll see if you're still saying that a week or two from now," the red-head grinned at the thought.

"Oh, you're on," Hermione said.

Both girls caught up in their conversation as they finally made it into the castle, neither was aware of the grey eyes watching their every move.

**A/N:**Hi guys!

Alright, so you know the drill…

It's time to fill me in on your thoughts!

I honestly love seeing what you have to say _:)_

So, please, don't be shy!

Thank you to: whatweareafreaidof, TsukiyoTenshi, and NorthernLights25 for reviewing since my last update. You lot are awesome!

**Next: **Tensions rise between Harry and Hermione while Malfoy gets an unwanted surprise

**Until then…**


	20. Chapter 20

"_I loved you with a fire red_

_Now it's turning blue_

_And you say,_

_Sorry like an angel_

_Heaven let me think was you_

_But I'm afraid_

_It's too late to apologize"_

_-Apologize_

Chapter 20: Taking It Too Far

Disclaimer: The plot is mine, nothing else.

"Tonight, you will all be scrubbing out the trophy room," Mr. Filch informed the fourteen students from Professor Snape's advanced Potions class. He then proceeded to hand each of them a black toothbrush along with several bottles of polish.

"You've got to be joking," Pansy complained.

"Toothbrushes?" Dean asked disbelievingly, "Really?"

"Yeah, wait until Malfoy's father hears about this," Seamus commented, purposefully mocking the blonde who stood several paces away.

Dean snickered at his friend's snide remark, while the rest stood in silence, upset that they would be spending their Friday night in such an awful way.

Slightly surprised that Draco didn't snap back at Seamus, Harry and Hermione took the lead and walked into the small room in order to get their punishment over with as soon as possible.

"Get to work," Filch told the group after relaying out very thorough instructions on how to behave and what they should be doing. After eyeing each and every peeved student, he made his way out, locking the small door behind him. Not until ten at night would the man be returning…and it was only just seven thirty.

"This shouldn't take too long," Hermione said to Harry and Neville who were currently standing beside her. "You figure there's fourteen of us and approximately-"

"Thousands of medals and trophies," Blaise cut her off, looking completely frustrated. "Thanks a lot Granger."

Before any of them could protest, Pansy walked over to her boyfriend and saved them the trouble, "It wasn't her fault," she reminded him, "I told you this earlier, do you not remember?"

"Yes, but Draco said-"

"Nevermind what he said," Pansy gently smacked his arm, "And are you honestly going to take his word over mine?" she batted her eyelashes at him, making Harry, Hermione, and especially Neville incredibly uncomfortable.

Blaise sighed and gave in, "Alright, I believe you," he smiled down at his girlfriend before placing a chaste kiss upon her lips.

"I'm just going to head over to," Neville quickly surveyed the room, "Somewhere that's not here," he sputtered before taking off, red-faced.

Hermione shook her head, slightly amused. "We best be getting to work," she told the couple after they broke apart. "Harry and I will take this shelf over here," she directed to the vacant place to her left. "You two can join Draco over there," Hermione then pointed over to where Malfoy was standing alone, already cleaning one of the medals.

"Fine," Pansy said in exasperation, not wanting to be anywhere near the blonde she was still angered with. "Come on, Blaise," she took the other Slytherin's hand and led him away.

"Is this going to become an everyday thing?" Harry asked, more so to himself.

"You mean having them talk to us?" Hermione inquired as the two friends walked over towards the shelf.

"Sure," he replied, knowing that their former enemies were actually doing more than merely socializing with them lately. They had been somewhat friendly and almost tolerable as well.

"I'm sort of getting used to it, honestly," Hermione informed him as she dipped her toothbrush into the container filled with polish.

"How could you be?"

She tried not to laugh for Harry had come off sounding utterly betrayed over something so trivial, "I don't know," she shrugged, "I've just been thinking about this entire situation over the past week and I suppose I finally came to terms with it." Hermione then reached for one of the smaller, golden trophies, "You should, too," she told Harry, "There's no harm in it."

"Yet," her friend mumbled, mimicking her previous actions in grabbing one of the awards. "I just don't understand why you're so eager to trust them."

"I'm not," she said a bit harshly. Harry really had no right to accuse her like that. Being annoyed with her tolerating the Slytherins was one thing, but practically criticizing her intelligence was another. "I don't trust them and probably never will," Hermione went on. "Besides, these sorts of choices are mine to make. I don't need you reprimanding me for them."

Harry sighed, "I'm only trying to look out for you," he said in a calmer tone.

"Yes, well," she went back to cleaning, "Try not to be so rude about it."

"Mione-" he went to apologize.

"Just get back to work Harry," she advised without so much as looking up from her brush. Hermione knew from the start that this whole new turn of events would be difficult for the raven-haired teen, but never had she expected him to be so prejudice towards the other house. That was something Ron had been known for, and quite frankly, those colors just did not suit Harry in the slightest.

Feeling that it would be best to do as the prefect said, he began scrubbing away, mentally beating himself up for being so insensitive.

…

Over at the other side of the room, Draco and Blaise could be found each dipping their black toothbrushes into a vat of polish while their partner, Pansy, was doing the same, yet with a green one.

"How did you get a green toothbrush, Pans?" Blaise asked, noticing that she was the only one who possessed that color. "I didn't see Filch carrying any style other than black."

Parkinson smirked and turned to face the two boys, "That's because he wasn't, love," she answered Blaise. Resuming back to the scrubbing process, she explained, "This is Draco's."

"What?" the blonde shouted at her, causing the other members of the room to look in his direction. "Why in the bloody hell would you do that?" Malfoy continued yelling, disgusted with what his friend had done.

However, everyone else couldn't help but to laugh at the scene. Even the previously mad bushy-haired brunette chuckled.

"I told you Monday," she reminded him, "I didn't appreciate being ignored, Draco," Pansy appeared un-phased by her friend's stern tone. She actually had a bit of an accomplished look upon her face.

"Merlin, when are you going to let that go?" he asked, ignoring the stares that surrounded him.

"That depends," Pansy twirled the toothbrush in her hand, "Have you learned you lesson?"

Blaise smirked at his girlfriend's nerve, doing nothing to break up the fight.

Preventing himself from undergoing further embarrassment, Draco simply said, "If I say yes, will you buy me a new toothbrush?"

"Of course, darling," she said sweetly.

"Fine then-" he suddenly got to thinking, "Wait…how did you know to bring that along?" Draco asked. Nobody had known what their punishment was going to consist of until Filch had escorted them to the door.

"Who's our head of house, again?" Pansy asked, rhetorically.

"Right," he muttered, putting the pieces together. The girl had probably run to Snape after he dished out the detentions, demanding to know what they'd be forced to do.

"So…?" she prodded.

"Yes, alright?" Draco finally answered, "Will you just drop it already?"

"Ask and you shall receive," Pansy said sarcastically. "Here," she tossed the toothbrush at him and pulled the black one out of her robe pocket.

"Keep it," he spat, throwing it on the ground.

"Looks like Malfoy just got his arse handed to him," Millicent said loudly, causing the room to burst out into fits of laughter once more.

The blonde could only narrow his eyes at her as Blaise pulled him back to work.

…

"That was torture," Harry complained as he, along with the rest of the students, exited the room they had all come to hate.

"Mmm," Hermione lazily agreed, still having not spoken a word to her friend since their small spat.

"Please don't be mad with me, Mione," Harry begged. It was bad enough that the girl had ignored him for the past two and a half hours. He really thought she would have moved on by now.

"I'm not angry with you, Harry," she sighed, "It's just-"

"I swear, no amount of gardening has ever left my fingers this sore," interrupted Neville, clearly not noticing that the other two had been talking as he walked up behind them. "How about you?" he asked his friends.

"I'll live," Hermione smiled while rubbing her aching hands.

"Only two more detentions left now," Dean said, walking up alongside Neville with Seamus as they all made their way up to the tower.

"Yeah, only," said Seamus, rolling his eyes.

"You really shouldn't be whining about all of this," said Katie, who wasn't far behind with the rest of the Gryffindors who had also been there. "You're the one who shouted, 'food fight'."

"And it wasn't even food," Dean laughed.

"Hey, if Crabbe hadn't hit me with that stupid bean, none of this would've happened," Seamus defended, halfheartedly.

Lavender shook her head, "You and you're pride," she smiled at him.

Finnegan merely grinned back, a small blush rising on his face.

"Could we talk?" asked Hermione, turning around to face the girl with a pink bow-tie strapped around her head. She decided it was finally time for the two of them to discuss things.

"Sure," she replied, reluctantly. Lavender didn't exactly have to best relationship with her classmate. "I'll be back soon," she told her best friend, Parvati, before staying behind.

Hermione didn't so much as say goodbye to Harry as she remained in the common room with the other girl. She merely watched as her friend walked over and sat in front of the fireplace instead of heading back up to his dorm.

The brunette just shook her head and cast a silencing charm around her and Lavender. "How have you been?" she asked once the spell had set.

"Alright, I suppose," Lavender answered, knowing what she was really getting at. It was evident that she had deep feelings towards a certain red-head that was no longer around.

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't be," she prevented Hermione from going on a pity trip. "You had nothing to do with what happened."

"Well, I wouldn't say 'nothing'…" the opposite Gryffindor stated. She had been there that horrible night, afterall.

"You know what I mean," Lavender gave her a weak smile. "It wasn't your fault."

Hermione looked over to where Harry sat. He wasn't paying them any mind as he stared off into the dancing flames ahead of him.

"Are you okay?" the shorter girl tried to regain Hermione's attention, feeling slightly concerned.

She looked back at Lavender, and after giving the question some thought, easily replied, "For the most part," Hermione glanced at her friend again, "We're getting through it."

Much to the prefect's surprise, the pink-loving girl placed a hand upon her shoulder, "I'm here if you ever need to talk," she said. "You know where to find me."

Hermione actually felt a small amount of respect towards the girl for a brief moment and smiled warmly at her, "I do," she nodded, "You're in the bed next to mine every night."

Both girls laughed.

"The same applies for you," Hermione informed Lavender once they sobered up a bit.

"Thanks," the typically peppy girl then yawned. "I'm going upstairs now," she said, tiredly. "Are you coming?"

Hermione gave Harry one last look before deciding. She knew her friend wanted to talk with her, for he wouldn't have remained in the common room otherwise.

"Yes," she told Lavender who soon after led the way into their room.

Following, the brunette felt extremely guilty. She just wasn't in the mood to be around Harry at the moment. Possibly, if Neville hadn't cut in earlier on what she was about to say, things would be different. Not that it mattered at this point.

'Who knows,' Hermione thought as she crawled into bed, 'Maybe a little space from Harry tonight will give him the chance to clear his mind.'

…

Fifteen minutes passed by until Harry noticed he was alone. 'Surely Hermione knew I waited here for her,' he thought to himself. Earlier, he watched her cast a silencing charm instead of insisting he leave the room and had taken that as a silent agreement that she would talk with him after she finished up with Lavender.

'I guess not,' Harry told himself as he stood to go into the boy's dormitory.

…

Hermione's assumption proved to be entirely off as Harry found himself lying awake most of the night, his mind reeling with the many thoughts that were troubling him…her being the main focus of it all. Clearing his mind was the last thing about to take place, unfortunately.

**A/N:**Hi everyone!

Please give me your thoughts on Chapter 20, alright?

I'd like to know how you think the story is going to far.

Also, a big thank you to pawsrule, TsukiyoTenshi, and NorthernLights25, for reviewing since my last update on Friday, I really appreciate it :)

**Next:** Hermione seeks advice while Harry's darkest secret is discovered by the last person he wanted to find it.

**Until then…**


	21. Chapter 21

"_Some of them want to use you_

_Some of them want to get used by you_

_Some of them want to abuse you_

_Some of them want to be abused"_

_-Sweet Dreams_

Chapter 21: His Deepest Darkest Secrets…Revealed

Disclaimer: J.K Rowling owns Harry Potter, I own the plotline below.

Late Saturday morning, as the teen had slept in, Draco found himself tiredly reaching for a toothbrush that was no longer there.

"Forget, did you?" asked Blaise, making his way into the restroom. He chuckled when his friend responded by giving him an annoyed look. "Would it help if I told you she's sorry?"

"No," Malfoy spat. Not only was he still aggravated with what Pansy had done, the blonde was far from a morning person, thus his cranky demeanor.

"Just as well," Zabini smiled, "Because she isn't."

"Of course not," he mumbled before making his way to the showers.

"Hey, try not to take all day getting ready, alright? Pans wanted to head out to Hogsmeade for brunch."

"What does that have to do with me?" Draco asked, turning around.

"Oh, come on," Blaise started, clearly exasperated. His two mates had been at it all week, and he was quite honestly fed up with it. "She only wants to spend the day with her best friend. Don't deny her the pleasure of your presence," he added, trying to snap the other teen out of his awful mood.

"Yes, well, I'd rather not spend my weekend as a third wheel," he informed the prefect, bitterly. Ever since the other two had gotten together, the three's relationship just hadn't been the same.

"It won't be like that," Blaise reassured him, "Besides, Vince and Greg will be going there as well, today, so if you start feeling out of place you can just meet up with them."

Giving the idea some thought, Draco agreed against his better judgment. "Fine, I'll be down shortly."

"So, in about an hour or two, then?" he teased.

The blonde threw a towel at him, "Just leave," he still smirked.

"Sure," Blaise began walking towards the door, "Oh, and while we're out, maybe you can pick up a new toothbrush."

Draco shot him a meaningless glare and then proceeded to spell the door shut, forcing his friend from the bathroom.

A cry of pain was the last he heard from Zabini before finally proceeding to get himself ready. Clearly, the darker boy had been hit in the face.

Malfoy's mood had definitely been lifted after that.

…

_(Several hours earlier)_

Unlike his former enemy, Harry did not have the pleasure of sleeping in. He had an early detention with Snape that morning and still wanted to catch up with Hermione beforehand.

Heading down into the common room after rinsing off and getting dressed, he found his best friend to be nowhere in sight.

The Gryffindor sighed in disappointment. Assuming the girl had yet to wake, which was very much unlike her being that she was typically an early riser, he made his way to breakfast alone.

However, Harry had guessed wrong for Hermione had watched the entire display from underneath his invisibility cloak. She had been in the process of secretly returning it when she noticed the opposite teen entering the room.

As much as the prefect wanted to shed the magic material and speak with him about the previous night, Hermione didn't want to have to explain why she had it in the first place. So, she sadly watched her upset friend leave the room with a heavy heart.

…

"Dray," Pansy began as she, Blaise, and the blonde had just finished their meal.

"Yes?" he answered whilst holding his tongue. Malfoy had never appreciated the stupid nickname she insisted on using.

"I just remembered something," the girl continued as the three walked down one of the many roads in Hogsmeade.

"Go on," he pried, wanting her to get to the point.

"Well, last Wednesday night, Blaise and I were patrolling the halls, being that it was our turn to do so," she explained, for all prefects were designated different nights, "And while we were out, I could've sworn I saw you roaming about the dungeon entrance. However, once I finally made my way over, you had disappeared," Pansy gave him a knowing look, "Care to explain?"

Draco gave the short girl a look of his own, "Is it against the rules to spend our free hours outside of the common rooms?"

"I just found it odd being that it was so late."

"It wasn't even curfew," he defended.

"True, but it was close enough," she retaliated.

"What does it even matter?" Malfoy inquired, slightly frustrated.

"It doesn't, really," Parkinson mused as she continued walking between the two boys, "I guess it was but a sheer coincidence that Granger and Weaselette were also in the same area."

Draco felt his face grow hot when both his friends shot him a, 'you are so pathetic,' face.

In reality, the Slytherin had caught the two Gryffindors making their way outside after supper and followed them out of his own curiosity. 'Nothing more,' he lied to himself.

"I didn't notice," he said, quietly, diverting his grey colored eyes from the brown and blue ones staring at him.

"Sure mate," Blaise spoke up, stifling a laugh.

Pansy shook her head, "I need to go in here," she told the two upon approaching one of the shops.

Grateful that she had changed the subject, Draco still asked why.

"Because," she smirked, "I promised to purchase you a new toothbrush, didn't I?"

Zabini was unsuccessful in containing his laughter this time as he followed his girlfriend and the now extremely embarrassed blonde inside.

…

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked her friend who was currently sitting inside the library looking rather put out.

Hermione glanced up from the homework she couldn't concentrate on and watched as the red-head sat down before her. "It's just…" she started, "Last night didn't go so well."

"Detention was that terrible?" she inquired. "What did you guys have to do?"

"No," the opposite girl shook her head, "As bad as scrubbing the trophy room turned out to be, that isn't what's bothering me."

"Then what-"

"Harry and I had sort of an argument," Hermione sighed, cutting her off. "It was stupid, really," she went on, "While he may have been somewhat of a prat, there was no reason for me to get so worked up. I was just so upset that I had to be serving out detention while I typically study on Friday nights, that I took it out on him," she placed her head into her hands, feeling guilty once more. "Regardless of the things he said, I had no right," she mumbled, still covering her face.

Ginny gave her friend a sad look, "What did he say, exactly?" she asked, deciding to help sort things out between the two.

Hermione looked up several moments later, "Well, you know how the Slytherins have been more…" she searched for the right word, "civil towards us lately?"

"You mean creepy?" the younger girl half-joked. Malfoy was still giving her odd looks every time they passed or were in the same room.

Hermione let out a soft laugh, "I told Harry to try and accept the fact that they're truly attempting to move past our previous differences, but he completely shut down the idea," she shook her head, remembering what he had told her, "I mean, I didn't suggest that he come out and try to be friends with them," Ginny chuckled at that mental image, "I just asked that he at least attempt to be more neutral towards the situation. He's always so tense and guarded whenever any of them come around and it's giving off a vibe that I'm afraid will scare them away."

"Can you blame him, 'Mione?" Ginny looked into her eyes, "You know how they treated you lot for the past five years. I know that you told me Malfoy had his reasons, but that's still no excuse. I'm surprised you're so willing to forget the past along with all of the things he said and called you. I'm just saying," she explained, "I wouldn't care if Harry did end up pushing them away. It's more than understandable."

"I just want this house rivalry to stop," Hermione defended, seeing the bigger picture that her friends, obviously, did not. "Believe me," she admitted, "I will never forget our past feuds." The brunette then recalled the day she had punched Malfoy in the face and cracked a small smile, "But I will be mature about this," she then gave her friend a determined look, "I'm going to forgive them and move on no matter what any of you think. We have enough enemies outside of these walls, anyhow."

Ginny nodded her head in acceptance, "You're clever, 'Mione. So, I trust you on this," she then told her friend, "Just don't push the rest of us, here. I may have also noticed a change for the better amongst the Slytherins, but that doesn't mean I'm suddenly going to stand up and forgive them for the things they've done. Now, I'm not saying that I'll never let go of my resentment," the Gryffindor took a deep breath, "But, like Harry, it's going to take me some time…and you really need to respect that." She gave the other girl an apologetic look, not wanting to come off as rude or hurt her feelings.

"You're right," Hermione agreed, "I'll talk with Harry tonight and try to patch things up."

"Good," Ginny beamed. "Oh, and you're pygmy puff should be here by Monday night," she then added, "Be sure to keep Crookshanks away from him, though. I know he has a tendency to eat anything smaller than him," the red-head said, remembering the summer before last when the half-kneazle cat had eaten one of Fred and George's extendable ears.

The prefect giggled, thinking the same thing. "I'll be sure to do that." She then went on to do her homework, feeling much better than she had before.

…

Around ten o'clock that same morning, Harry could be found entering his most hated place in all of Hogwarts: the potions classroom.

"Sit, Potter," Snape rudely greeted his student.

Curious, as he believed he would be cleaning cauldrons, Harry did as he was told and sat down in a chair before the Professor's desk.

"Now," Snape got straight to the point, as usual, "Per the headmaster's request we shall be resuming Occlumency lessons."

Harry's jaw dropped. After what had happened last year, the teen was certain Snape would never allow another session to take place, Dumbledore's wishes be damned.

"Pick up your chin," the Potions Master spat, "You appear as more of an imbecile that way," he insulted the Gryffindor.

He tried defending himself, but it was to no avail as Snape began speaking again, "Every Saturday evening, at precisely seven o' clock, we will have these meetings," at that, Harry felt somewhat relieved for it wouldn't interfere with quidditch practice. "Tardiness will not be accepted. If you are late, the session shall be canceled," he informed the boy.

"Are we starting today, sir?" Harry asked, suddenly nervous. He hated the feeling of having another person inside his head, especially when that person Snape. All of his most private memories became exposed to the man he most disliked.

"Yes," the professor supplied as if it were quite evident. "I suggest you brace yourself," he then proceeded to draw his wand, much to Potter's dismay.

"Wait," Harry protested, "I wanted to ask you about what Dumbledore said," he told him, coming up with an excuse to delay the process. Still, it wasn't a lie. He truly wanted to know more about Snape's role as a spy and the horcrux the headmaster refused to tell him about.

The man gave him a searching look, "_Professor_ Dumbledore," he corrected before replying, "and perhaps, another time." Then, before Harry could argue any further, Severus drew his wand, looked into Lily's replicated eyes, and cast, "Legilimens."

While he had expected to be engulfed in exceedingly mushy memories that made him want to vomit, the images Snape viewed this time, however, left him thoroughly stunned

Never had he expected this.

**A/N:**So, this concludes chapter twenty-one.

I hope you all enjoyed it :)

Please, give me your thoughts and fill me in, okay?

Thank you all so much and: TsukiyoTenshi, pawsrule, pfeil, god of all, and NorthernLights25, thanks guys for reviewing since my last post. You're the reason I keep this going!

**Next:** Severus tries talking to Harry, the group gets together once more, and Ginny finally confronts Draco.

**Until then…**


	22. Chapter 22

"_I'm out on the edge and_

_I'm screaming my name, like_

_A fool at the top of my lungs_

_Sometimes when I close my eyes_

_I pretend I'm alright…_

_But it's never enough"_

_-Echo_

Chapter 22: Betrayed

Disclaimer: Potter isn't mine guys, sorry.

"What do you think you're doing?" Harry shouted furiously, backing away from the Potions Master whilst feeling as if he were going to explode at any minute. Never had he been so angry…so violated in his entire life.

"You had no right," the teen went on, not allowing his Professor to get a word in. "But I suppose I had this coming, didn't I?" he asked, sarcastically as well as rhetorically. "An eye for an eye," Harry spat, recalling an old muggle phrase. "This is revenge for last year, right? This is why you agreed to these lessons again, isn't it?" he kept on ranting, thoroughly peeved off to the point where he was shaking in resentment towards the older man. "You were hoping to find something like that, weren't you?" his emerald eyes shined with betrayal and pain as he recalled the memories Severus just viewed. "Well, congratulations," he ran for the door, "Now you have it."

"Harry, I-"

But it was too late. Not even acknowledging that the Professor had called him by his first name for once, the Gryffindor had left.

Snape remained, deciding against chasing after the teen. He felt it would be best to allow Potter some time in order to calm down before attempting to speak with him again. Because, whether or not he wanted to do so, another meeting between the two would definitely be held.

For now, however, he stood feeling entirely ill.

Harry's home life was far from what he expected it to be like.

And he could relate all too much to that…

…

It was around one o'clock in the afternoon when Harry had finally made his way back up to the tower. Still feeling angry and slightly anxious towards what had taken place between him and Snape, he intended on lying in bed for a bit in the hopes that it would relax him.

"Harry," a voice called from behind as he approached the stairs that led into his dorm. Sighing in disappointment, he turned around to see a quite nervous looking brunette standing before him.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the girl told him, taking his exasperated breath the wrong way. "If you don't want to talk-"

"No," he reassured her, "I've actually been wanting to speak with you for a while," Harry smiled. All of his previous distress faded, if only a little.

The opposite Gryffindor beamed back at him, "Let's take a seat then, shall we?" she suggested, walking over to the comfortable-looking sofas in the room.

After soon agreeing, Harry followed and sat beside her.

"Mione, I'm sorry about last night-" he went to apologize.

"No, it was my fault," she corrected. "I shouldn't have been pushing you about the Slytherins," Hermione sighed, remembering Ginny's earlier advice. "I know that you just need time in order to cope with all of these changes…" she shook her head when a sudden picture of Ron popped into her head. That was one change she, herself, was still dealing with.

"But you were right," Harry insisted, using the newly formed silence to his advantage. "I should have at least realized that they didn't mean any harm," he took a deep breath, not entirely believing the words he just said.

"They still don't," Hermione informed him almost inaudibly. She really didn't want to get into it again with her best friend.

"I know," he surprised her by agreeing. "It's just going to take a while."

Hermione smiled at him and repeated his previous words, "I know," the prefect then took his hand as a means of comfort.

Happy for the first time since he had woken up, Harry laced their fingers together contentedly.

After several moments of not talking passed by, Hermione spoke up again. "So, how did your detention with Professor Snape go?"

All happiness abruptly vanished for Harry at that. Desperate to change the subject, he removed his hand from hers and stood up.

"Fine," he answered shortly.

Not believing that for a second, the other teen wisely let the matter drop for now. Standing up beside him, she suggested, "Care to take a walk?" for it was a nice day out and Hermione truly wanted to spend some quality time with her friend after the tension that had been going on between them.

"Sure, why not?" Harry forced a grin, trying to get his mind off of Snape now.

Hermione retaking his hand made that a lot easier to do as the two exited through the Fat Lady's portrait.

…

As they began descending the grand staircase, Hermione was ambushed with the guilt that had been eating away at her ever since their return to school. She had yet to be truthful about what she had discussed with Pansy their first night back and still hadn't explained why she stayed behind to talk with her the following day. The brunette could tell Harry wanted to know, but kindly refrained from asking (which she was immensely grateful for).

Still, it wasn't fair of her to keep this information to herself. Harry had told her of his run-in with Malfoy, afterall.

Also, it couldn't remain a secret forever…especially with Ginny so intensely involved. Each time she and the Slytherin girl spoke, her friend was nearly always the main topic.

But she couldn't bring herself to tell him just yet. They had barely made up and Hermione could tell he hadn't been having the best of days thus far...

Then, the prefect looked at the peaceful expression upon Harry's face and quickly made up her mind.

'It will just have to wait,' she decided. Until when…well that was still a mystery.

…

Upon exiting the entrance hall, the two Gryffindors found Ginny, along with Neville and Luna, all sitting beside the lake.

Having not spoken to them as a group for a time, Harry and Hermione decided to join them.

"Hello everyone," the brunette greeted as they walked over.

Noticing her friends' intertwined hands, Ginny smirked somewhat triumphantly and watched as they each sat down next to her.

"How have you been, Luna?" Hermione asked as she hadn't seen the blonde since Sunday evening.

"Oh, I've been rather well," the Ravenclaw smiled dreamily. "Although, I am afraid I will forever have this scar," she held out her hand, showing her friends the precise spot where Arnold had bitten her a few months back. It was small, yet still noticeable.

Carefully examining the younger girl's hand, Hermione informed her, "You know, Madame Pomfrey could easily remedy that for you. Just one potion later, it would completely vanish," she smiled.

"I truly don't mind all too much," she replied, then looked to the teen beside Hermione with a questioning expression. "If you don't mind me asking," she went on without a response, "Why haven't you looked into this for your scar, Harry?"

Noticing the sudden stiffness in his posture, Hermione answered for him, "Luna," she gave her a disappointed look, "Harry's scar is…different," she said a bit clumsily. That had always been a sore topic and, normally, it was never brought up.

Although, since when had Luna ever been considered normal?

"Tryouts are still being held tomorrow, yes, Harry?" Ginny asked, strategically turning the topic over to something much lighter.

Thankful, he reassured her, "Of course. I wouldn't cancel twice in the same week." Originally, tryouts were to be held that Saturday morning, but were postponed due to his detention with Snape.

"Katie and Dean would probably fight over which got to land the first punch if you had," the red-head joked. Those who wanted to make the team had no more time to waste. They all needed to know so practice could begin being that their first match would be held within the next short month.

Harry laughed, "How is Dean these days?" he asked, not having received wind of their break up. Thomas had always been quiet about his personal affairs and Harry never listened to the ongoing gossip that always flooded the common room.

"Well, we haven't talked much lately," Ginny replied casually, "But from what I've heard, he seems to be doing alright." There was no bitterness laced into her voice which was probably due to the fact that she and her ex decided to keep their friendship.

Before Harry could interrogate whom he considered to be his sister, two things happened: Hermione shook her head, silently saying that she would fill him in later, and Neville decided to jump into the conversation.

"I spoke with him last night during our detention," he let Ginny know, "He actually asked me to tell you something," Neville's face was tinged pink for his short-memory had always been an embarrassment to him. "I must've forgotten…" he drifted off.

At this point, the young blonde by his side had taken it upon herself to place a comforting hand over his. "I'm sure you aren't to blame, Neville," she soothed, "Wrackspurts do have a tendency to show up at the worst of times."

After everyone chucked at Luna's words, Neville's face returned back its natural color, no longer feeling bad, but rather amused and lighthearted. He took her hand with a smile, just a moment prior to Ginny catching his attention.

"So, what was it he wanted you to tell me?" she asked him.

"Oh, right," the prefect cleared his throat, "Dean wanted to know if you'd like to join him at the Three Broomsticks next Sunday afternoon. He would've asked you himself, but he told me he hardly ever sees you nowadays."

Ginny looked slightly taken aback, but nonetheless, pleased, "I'd like that," she nodded her head, "Tell him to meet me in the common room tonight around seven so we can discuss the times and such, please."

Neville agreed without hesitation, but his face soon fell afterwards as he caught sight of those standing behind the youngest Weasley.

Curious about their friend's sudden mood swing, the group turned to see three Slytherins heading towards the castle, one of them, more so focused on Ginny than the others.

"This ends now," the girl said angrily, her eyes trained on the blonde teen once behind her. She stood up, wand drawn, and made her way over to the trio despite the group's many protests.

"What's your problem, Malfoy?" she demanded, having approached him but a second earlier. Hermione and Harry were closely behind while Neville and Luna stayed standing from a further distance, still prepared to step forward at any given moment.

"I don't know what you're going on about," Draco responded, uncharacteristically flustered. He had been planning on speaking with the girl at some point…perhaps through post at first. The two hadn't interacted much so all she knew of him was surely given from her brother's experiences.

Needless to say, he was definitely not one of her most favorite people in this world.

Not by a long-shot.

"Give it up," Ginny rudely advised, "I've been tolerant this past week, but you're really starting getting on my nerves," she glared at him, "What are you playing at?"

Hermione was feeling exceedingly anxious now, for one of her worst fears was in the process of unfolding and there not a thing she could say to prevent it. All she could do now was berate herself for not telling Harry about this earlier on when she had the chance. The brunette glanced at the teen to her left, guiltily taking in his confused expression.

Standing on either side of Draco, Blaise and Pansy were being oddly quiet throughout this dispute. However, the two still had their wands pulled out, at the ready, all the same.

"Nothing," the Slytherin answered shortly, not sure what else he should say.

"Get off it," Ginny took a small step closer, still eyeing him down, "I already know that Parkinson came to Hermione our first night back on your behalf," she went on, ignoring the two girls' widening eyes. Neither of them, not even Pansy, had told their other friends of what had been discussed. The Slytherin girl had gone out of her way to make sure this would never get out, as well. Thinking she and Granger had formed an agreement that it wouldn't, clearly, she was wrong.

"Why are you suddenly so interested in who I am, or am not dating?" she demanded answers for the second time.

"I can honestly say that I have absolutely no idea what you are referring to," Malfoy said, truthfully. He then shot a look at Pansy, eyes filled with much dislike, but more so betrayal, at the very moment Harry had done the same to Hermione.

The girls peered at one another instead, not capable of facing the others anymore.

Having both her boyfriend and best mate shooting her such intense stares was just as bad compared to what the opposite brunette was enduring. Hermione may have had an extra set of eyes on her, but the pain she felt was just the same as Pansy's.

And it was a strange feeling…weakness, because both females were typically confident and headstrong in situations such as these.

Now, they were each currently displaying the complete opposite of those traits with much shame.

Finally realizing what she had done by allowing her temper get the best of her, Ginny immediately looked to Hermione, ready to apologize.

About to do so, a Professor's appearance silenced her, intending to put an end to this small, yet loud, spat.

"What, may I ask, is going on here?" Snape questioned the group, his stern, obsidian eyes directed more so at the two Slytherin prefects and his godson.

"Sir," Blaise spoke up, breaking the awkward silence, "We were just on our way back to the castle when Pansy caught sight of Granger, here" he wisely came up with this cover. It was widely known that the two girls had been on more friendly terms. Many had seen them talking with one another on various occasions and formed this conclusion.

"Yes," Pansy cut in, going along with it, "I wanted to ask her something," she then turned to the Gryffindor, not sure where to go from here.

"It was about our Potion's assignment, Professor," Hermione used her fast, always clever, way of thinking.

Snape looked away from his Slytherins and gave her a hard look, searching for any trace of deception. Granger was hardly recognized for her lying capabilities, so seeing through her façade was all too easy.

"Hmm," he looked away, "I find this quite hard to believe, Miss Granger."

Befuddled for a moment, Hermione soon realized just why that was so. There was no Potions assignment. Since their last class had ended in such a disaster, the Professor handed out detentions…not homework. She must've overlooked this whilst her brain was clouded from all that was taking place amongst her friends.

"Care to explain?" he asked the lot of them. Neville and Luna had come forward earlier, just after their friend and Parkinson had been found out.

All eight students kept their lips tightly sealed.

"Well, then," Snape now had to punish their disobedience, "I shall see you all Monday evening, in my office, at precisely seven o'clock," he continued, preventing the arguments that were to come, "Five points shall also be taken," the Professor looked at the lot prior to finishing his statement, "each."

With that, the man gestured for them all to return to their respective rooms without any words of disagreement unless they wished for two detentions, instead of just the one he had given so far.

"Mr. Potter," Severus held the teen behind. His friends could only give a concerned glance as they were forced to leave him.

"What?" Harry asked, harshly. He was still outraged with what had taken place earlier (not just with Snape, but with his Hermione as well), and had no respect whatsoever for his Professor at that point.

"Mind your tone-"

"No," he took his long-awaited turn in interrupting the greasy-haired git for once. "You've already given us all our detentions," the Gryffindor pointed out. "There's nothing more to talk about."

"Ten points for your cheek, Potter," Snape informed him, losing what little patience he may have had. "Whether you like it or not, what took place earlier this morning needs to be discussed."

"No, it doesn't," Harry firmly disagreed, through gritted teeth. "It's all in the past and isn't a problem of mine now."

"That is of no importance and surely is not an excuse for their behavior towards you," he reminded the boy.

"Why do you even care?" he ground out, still seriously wanting to know. "You didn't before." Harry went on, "What's the purpose of starting now when it doesn't matter anymore?"

Snape sighed in utter frustration and pinched the bridge of his nose, "It does matter," he corrected, "Despite the fact that you may no longer be residing with your relatives, they should not be allowed to get by with what they put you through."

Harry felt his face grow hot, "That's none of your business."

"Unfortunately for the both of us, Mr. Potter, I am afraid that it is. The headmaster shall need to be informed of this and I will require your cooperation in doing so."

Fear abruptly overrode his past resentment, "No," Harry shook his head, "I'll keep going to these lessons," he said, referring to their occlumency sessions. To him, anything was better than word getting out about his previous home life with the Dursley's. Sure, they had treated him rottenly, but that wasn't a problem anymore. He was living with Sirius now.

Besides, having managed to keep the mistreatment a secret for the past five years around his friends, Harry planned on keeping it that way.

"Just don't tell anybody else," emerald eyes begged the Professor to agree. He felt terrible, acting like this in front of Snape…but he didn't see any other choice in the matter. He couldn't let everybody find out about this. The teen would be mocked and made fun of for the next two years, he just knew it. Harry was supposed to be 'the chosen one', not 'the weak one who allowed his muggle family to use and abuse him'.

"Harry-"

"Please," he tried once more, again not registering the usage of his first name.

Without sticking around for another rejection, the Gryffindor fled back to his dormitory, hoping that Snape would keep his mouth shut. Because, maybe if he went to their meetings and did better in class, the Professor wouldn't feel so inclined to tell…Harry told himself.

Severus, on the other hand, knew that the headmaster would have to be informed sooner rather than later. Regardless of what the Potter brat wanted, the elder man would be let in on this disturbing information so that they could all handle this situation properly. He would let his student know of his intentions Monday evening after detention, giving the Gryffindor one last chance to further explain himself.

Remembering the memories he had the displeasure of seeing…Snape thought back:

_A little boy forced to sleep in a cupboard under the stairs_

_A kid made to serve and fulfill his relative's every whim and desire while clothed in material much too big for his all too small body_

_The beatings, the shouting's, and the lies that seemed to endlessly go on… _

The man grimaced at it all.

For now, the Potion's Master chose to head back to his rooms in order to clearly think things over. He would not tell a soul in regards to what he had discovered earlier that day until Monday evening when only the headmaster would be told. Until then, it would be a secret between Potter and himself. (Which would've relieved the teen, had he stayed put and learned of this).

Still, while Severus and Harry most certainly did not know it, their little secret was not one that would be kept between just the two of them.

…No.

Because after both males had gone their separate ways…Hermione came out from her hiding place, only slightly surprised (for she had her suspicions) yet feeling terribly heartbroken, as well

Despite the fact that she and Harry's friendship had just been ripped to bits, Hermione was determined to do something about the information she had overheard.

Knowing that she couldn't possibly turn to the opposite teen at this point…the prefect could think of only one other person who could help her:

Professor Snape.

**A/N:** So…

What did you think of chapter twenty-two?

Please, let me know! :)

(Also, the chapters to come will be somewhat longer as the plot is beginning to thicken.)

*Big thanks to nicholsndimes08, TsukiyoTenshi, pawsrule, and god of all for reviewing since my last update. It means a great deal and I truly love hearing from you all.

P.S: If you have any questions that weren't already answered in any of the previous chapters, just let me know and I'll respond here the next time.

**Next:** Hermione and Pansy seek forgiveness from their friends while Harry tries dealing with a flurry of conflicting emotions. Meetings, tryouts, and unlikely conversations are also soon to be held.

**Until then…**

"_Cause my echo, echo_

_Is the only voice coming back_

_Shadow, shadow…_

_Is the only friend that I have"_

_-Echo (cont.)_


	23. Chapter 23

"_We say goodbye in the pouring rain_

_And I break down as you walk away_

_Stay, stay…_

'_Cause all my life, I've felt this way_

_But I could never find the words to say…"_

_-Stay, by Hurts_

Chapter 23: The One Who Gets You Through the Storm

Disclaimer: Do I have to repeat myself every time? Ha-ha.

Later that evening, the Gryffindor prefect could be found sitting before a small fireplace within the tower's common room for the second time that day. Pondering the rather disturbing conversation she had listened in on earlier that afternoon, Hermione's train of thought was broken by the sound of two boys exiting their dorm room.

Looking up, she saw Harry and Neville talking animatedly with one another. Knowing that the teens were about to head out for supper, the brunette stood, hoping that they would be alright with her joining them.

Hermione's wishful thinking had soon after been shattered, however, when Neville caught sight of her presence and abruptly ended his conversation with Harry, as if they had been talking about the girl.

Emerald eyes looked over towards where the Neville's brown ones were staring and narrowed slightly. Harry had spent the past half-hour inside his room along with Neville in order to try and understand everything that had taken place with Malfoy and Ginny. Learning that his best friend had known of the entire situation all this time hurt him, immensely…Especially when it was her who had told him not to worry about it in the first place.

Seeing the flash of pain in the opposite Gryffindor's eyes, Hermione looked away, guiltily, as Neville and Harry left without her.

After allowing several minutes to pass by, she followed, despite no longer having much of an appetite.

No, Hermione was not hungry in the slightest…

All she felt was intense heartache upon realizing both of her best friends were currently gone from her life.

While one would be forever away from this world, the other did not want a single thing to do with her.

And she truly couldn't blame him.

…

Dinner had turned out being a rather unpleasant affair for Pansy. Neither Draco nor Blaise had decided to sit near her which left the girl off at the end of the table, alone.

Sure, Parkinson could've benched with Crabbe, Goyle, Millicent, or even Teddy…

But, when it came down to it, the small brunette just wasn't feeling up to it. The only people she wanted to be around were the ones who wanted the complete opposite.

Now, although this saddened Pansy more than anything, the prefect couldn't help but feel a tad bit angry, as well.

'Really?' she thought to herself, 'it's not as if I off and joined the Dark Lord or killed one of their pets,' she shook her head upon receiving a rather disappointed look from her boyfriend. 'I was only trying to help,' the Slytherin told herself before looking back at her full plate and sighing in defeat.

Like Hermione, she had no desire to eat a single morsel of the feast that lay before her.

…

Across the room and over at the Gryffindor table, the other prefect, too, could be found dining in solitude. Originally, Ginny had attempted accompanying her, but the other girl wouldn't have it.

It's not that she was angry with the red-head or anything…it was just that she had nothing to say to her, really. And Hermione made sure to enlighten her friend of this before watching her leave and take another place by Dean, instead.

Sitting by herself, she couldn't help but to wonder if Ron would've stayed by her side. Would her late friend be just as upset with her as Harry is? Hermione instantly realized that no, he wouldn't be angry with her…Ron would be absolutely furious. He hated Malfoy exceedingly more so than Harry did. The rivalry between the two pureblooded families went way back.

Still, while she couldn't blame the others for feeling betrayed towards her, the deal they were all making out of this was far too big. So, maybe the Slytherin had a thing for Ginny? Sure, it was odd, but was there really any danger there? Hermione sighed in disappointment. She knew that if it had been some other guy interested in the youngest Weasley, Harry wouldn't be so upset with her keeping this small secret from him. And just when she was finally getting the other teen to move past his resentment towards the blonde (along with his notions towards Slytherin house), this happened, causing it all to go to waste. 'Stupid Malfoy,' she cursed mentally.

Shaking her head in disbelief, the bushy-haired girl pushed her plate away and looked down the table at Harry and Neville. The latter of the two, she noticed, was having a polite conversation with Seamus while the other, much to her dismay, was having a glaring contest with a certain Slytherin.

'This is ridiculous,' Hermione thought to herself catching a glance at Pansy, who was also being isolated. She stood up and made her way over to the other Gryffindors, determined to get this madness to cease.

"Harry," she asked hesitantly upon reaching the other teen, "Can I speak with you for a moment?"

Emerald eyes met brown. Hermione held her ground, mustering up the bravery her house was known for whilst the boy considered her offer.

Reluctantly, yet much to the brunettes relief, Harry agreed and followed the prefect outside the great hall to talk in private.

"Look, I'm sorry for keeping this from you," she started after exiting the room, "but I really didn't see much harm-"

Harry scoffed at that and cut her off, "So you've been saying for the past week," he informed her. "Ever since I told you about my meeting with Snape and Malfoy," he spat both of their names, "You've got it into your head that we should be friends with the Slytherins."

"I never said that-" Hermione went to protest.

"Maybe I should've kept it all to myself," he went on. "If I hadn't told you about Malfoy-"

"Harry don't," she pleaded, knowing where her friend was going with this. The last thing Hermione needed was for him to stop trusting her completely. "I would've noticed the change eventually," she told him, referring to Malfoy, Zabini, and Pansy's new personas. They had been acting more carefree and less on edge and uptight since their return to school. Regardless of Harry's new found information as to why that was, the prefect was highly intelligent and would have discovered it all soon enough; especially with Parkinson talking with her all of a sudden.

Inwardly, he had to agree with the girl. Harry knew she definitely would've figured it out sooner or later. He was just too angry at the moment to admit that to her.

"Yeah, well, now that I know about this," he began, referring to the ordeal between his pseudo-sister and Malfoy, "I can at least make sure nothing comes of it."

"That's not your decision to make," Ginny walked up, having been eavesdropping from the start.

Caught by surprise, the older teens turned to see an annoyed red-head standing before them.

"I'm more than capable of dealing with this on my own, Harry," she enlightened her friend. "And the same goes for you as well, 'Mione. I'm a big girl," she teased.

"But its Malfoy-" Harry started to complain.

"Who hasn't done anything wrong," Hermione snapped. "Since the start of the school year he has yet to do a single thing against you," she said, her voice beginning to rise, "Whether or not he likes Ginny has nothing to do with you. First off," the brunette began, "We can't even be sure that Malfoy truly wants anything to do with her," she motioned towards the red-head standing beside her, "It's only intuition at this point."

"It's actually kind of obvious at this point-" Ginny sheepishly added.

Hermione just gave her a stern look and proceeded, "Secondly," she turned back to Harry, "Even if he does, whether or not anything will come from it is not your call to make," the prefect told him, repeating the other girl's previous words. At this, Harry tried commenting, but didn't get the chance as Hermione finished her ranting. "And lastly," she concluded, "you need to know that I was only trying to help you," she admitted, her tone turning calmer. "I didn't want to give you anything more to worry about," Hermione looked into his eyes, "Not that there ever really was anything to get concerned over," she stressed that fact, "Because I would have told you if there was. I just didn't want you getting all worked up over nothing. Not when you have so many other priorities at the moment," she held her breath, waiting for Harry to make his move. Would he accept her honest words or would he tell her to shove off?

"I believe you," he finally said, allowing Hermione to let out the air and smile a bit. "Just…" He looked at her thoughtfully, "No more secrets, okay?"

Her smile widened, "I promise," Hermione then hugged him tightly, as she had done upon seeing him for the first time last summer, nearly knocking him over in the process.

"And no more fighting, either," Ginny spoke up, causing the two, now red-faced teens, to break apart. Clearly, they had forgotten all about her being there.

After laughing at the scene, she let them know, "Having to resolve two fights in two days is plenty enough for me," Ginny said, pretending to be exhausted.

Harry chuckled, "Two?"

"She gave me a bit of advice earlier before talking with you in the common room," Hermione admitted, blushing slightly.

"Hey, what are friends for?" Ginny asked, placing an arm around the two of them and leading the way back into the great hall. All three were smiling contentedly as they went to finish their dinner.

…

"Hi, Neville," Hermione greeted the prefect now sitting opposite her.

"You lot sorted things out, then?" he asked, noticing the grins smeared across the three's faces.

"Yeah," Harry replied, still looking a tad wearily over at Malfoy.

"You're not still angry, are you?" Hermione asked nervously, hoping that he wasn't. She was her friend too, afterall.

"I never was all that much to be honest," he smiled at her. "Just try not to keep me out of the loop anymore," Neville requested. Ever since that night down in the department of mysteries, he had become a bit more protective of his mates.

"We won't, don't worry," Ginny answered for her friend. "And that goes for Luna as well," she added.

"Think I should go talk to her as well?" Hermione asked upon mention of the other group member.

"I wouldn't worry about that," Neville replied, swallowing a spoonful of mashed potatoes. "She's not one to hold grudges."

"Luna probably was never upset to begin with," Harry noted, seeing the peaceful look upon the blonde's face as he glanced over at the Ravenclaw table.

"You really should try to be more like her, Harry," Ginny advised, looking at him from her seat beside Neville across the table.

After receiving incredulous looks from all three Gryffindors, she elaborated. "I just mean that you should be less judgmental and more open-minded."

"That's not a bad idea, actually," Hermione mused.

"We'll just have to ask Luna how she does it," Harry said, knowing his friend's advice was easier said than done.

"Neville can do that for you," the red-head smiled knowingly, causing the male at hers side to turn a rather bright shade of red.

Harry's chin dropped slightly, finally catching on. He hadn't seen this coming.

"You fancy her, don't you?" Hermione spoke up, not believing that she didn't notice this sooner.

Neville shyly nodded his head at the same time Ginny had said, "Of course he does."

"Why don't you ask her out?" Harry suggested.

"I don't know," he shook his head, "What if she doesn't feel the same way?"

"Nonsense," Ginny smacked him playfully on the arm, "Don't be daft."

"She won't turn you down, Neville, trust me," Hermione reassured.

"I've got it," Ginny came up with an idea, "You should ask her to join Dean and me to Hogsmeade this Sunday. The two of you could tag along and since Dean and I are just friends, there wouldn't be any pressure for you."

"That's brilliant," he couldn't help but to agree. Finally, some progress could be made, and it would still be subtle.

"Go on, then," Harry ordered nicely as Ginny gave Neville a small nudge.

With a comforting smile from Hermione, he shakily got up and made his way over to where Luna was seated amongst the other fifth year Ravenclaws.

"Awe," Ginny faked a sniffle, "They grow up so fast."

Her two friends laughed at the antics, momentarily forgetting all of their troubles.

…

"Dray, please talk to me," Parkinson pleaded, having enough of the silent treatment.

"I have nothing to say to you," Malfoy rudely informed her, "And stop calling me that," he added, bitterly.

Realizing that she wouldn't be getting anywhere with her friend, Pansy turned to her boyfriend instead. "Blaise," she put a hand on his arm, "Can't you forgive me?"

Looking into her hopeful eyes, he still declined. "Now's really not the best time, Pans," he told her. Only several hours had passed since their quarrel; it was simply too soon to forgive and forget.

"This is absurd," the brown-eyed girl sighed in frustration. "I was only trying to help you-"

"Nobody asked you to," Draco spat, glaring fiercely at her.

"You're my best friend-" she tried explaining.

"Was," the blonde quickly corrected in the heat of the moment.

Pansy moved back, as if she had been punched in the stomach. Even Blaise gave his mate a disapproving look. The Slytherin's words had been entirely too harsh.

"Fine," she collected herself and stood up from the table. "I'll just be going, then." The girl hastily made her way out of the great hall, preventing the other two teens from catching sight of her now watery eyes.

"Pansy-" Blaise tried calling out for her. Regretfully, it had been to no avail for she merely quickened her pace upon hearing her boyfriend, obviously wanting to be left alone.

"Happy now?" he asked Draco sarcastically as their friend exited the room.

Despite the fact that the opposite teen didn't answer, he at least had the decency to appear guilty for what he had done.

…

Hermione had watched the entire display amongst the Slytherins unfold before her. She couldn't help but to feel bad for the other brunette because the prefect had been in her shoes just moments ago.

Noticing his friend's distress, along with having also seen what happened, Harry spoke up. "You should go talk to her," he offered, knowing that was exactly what Hermione wanted to do.

"Are you sure?" she asked, not wanting to upset him for a third time.

He nodded before replying, "Yeah," he said, "Parkinson's been nice enough lately and she didn't really deserve what Malfoy and Zabini told her, either."

Both Ginny and Hermione beamed at Harry for that. Evidently, their friend was making progress.

"Just go," the raven-haired teen gave her a gentle push. "It's not that big of a deal," he included, still receiving admiring stares from the girls.

"I'll see you later, then?" Hermione asked Ginny and Harry, standing up in the process.

"Of course," Harry answered at the same time the red-head had said, "Definitely."

Giving them a short smile, Hermione hurried out of the great hall, hoping that the Slytherin hadn't gotten too far.

…

"Pansy?" the brunette called out, rounding the corner that lead into the dungeons.

"What do you want, Granger?" the now-found girl asked with her back turned, about to descend the stairs ahead.

"Are you alright?" she got to the point, noting how Parkinson brought a hand to her face, clearly trying to wipe all evidence of any weakness away.

"Why do you care?" Pansy questioned with an uncharacteristically small voice, still not facing the other girl.

Hermione took a deep breath. This was going to be difficult.

"Because-" she went to say, 'you're my friend,' but were they really? Only several conversations had been held between the two and while they had been civil, that didn't necessarily make them best mates.

"I just do, okay?" Hermione concluded, not knowing how else to put it.

She could hear the opposite prefect laugh softly, finding humor in her uncertain tone. Finally, Pansy turned around, puffy-eyed and all.

"It's Draco and Blaise," she explained, not allowing Granger to comment on her pathetic appearance. "They still refuse to talk with me despite the fact that I hardly did anything wrong…" she drifted off, reminiscing about what had taken place only ten minutes ago.

"They'll come around," Hermione reassured her, taking a step closer as well. "Just tell Draco how you were merely attempting to help-"

"Don't you think I've tried?" she asked. "Both in the common room and at the table, as you very well noticed, neither of them let me get more than a word or two out before telling me to bugger off. Draco just drawled on about how I ruined his chances with Weaselette and Blaise only kept staring at me as if I had betrayed him or something," Pansy crossed her arms, "They're being complete prudes."

Hermione had to stifle a laugh at that. "Well, I wouldn't say Malfoy's chances have been entirely demolished," she let the other girl know. "If it's any consolation, Ginny and Dean are no longer together."

Parkinson's eyes lit up, if only slightly. "But would she really want anything to do with him after today?" she inquired. Granger knew far more about the red-head than she did, afterall.

"I'm not sure," Hermione admitted. "She did tell Harry to stay out of it, which could be a good sign. Clearly, she's willing to deal with Malfoy herself at some point."

"That's fortunate, I suppose," Pansy said, inwardly knowing that could be equally much of a bad thing as good.

The taller teen nodded and, for a first, placed a comforting hand upon Parkinson's shoulder. "Just give the boys a bit of time," Hermione advised. "After a day or two, try talking with them again and don't take no for an answer, alright?" she smiled.

Getting over the shock of Granger actually touching her, Pansy smirked. "Since when have I ever done that?"

"Oh lovely, she's back," Hermione said, feigning annoyance.

The Slytherin lightly hit her arm for the comment, innocent or not.

"Ouch," the bushy-haired brunette acted hurt for a moment before letting out a laugh along with Pansy, whom she had successfully cheered up.

"I'm going to head down to the common room now," Parkinson told the other girl once the giggles had died down. She then yawned, "It's been a rather long day."

"It definitely has," Hermione agreed without hesitation.

"I'll see you around?" Pansy asked prior to taking her leave. She had grown somewhat fond of the girl she used to tease and wanted to keep speaking with her.

Granger grinned widely, "Sure, if you'd like."

"I would," she admitted, finally stepping onto the staircase, waving goodbye upon turning away.

Hermione let out a breath, feeling so much better than she had earlier that afternoon. Now, all she wanted to do was curl up by the fireplace with a good book.

…

Around seven o'clock that evening, Ginny and Dean could be found in the center of the common room, arranging times for their outing to Hogsmeade along with Neville. Apparently, the prefect had managed a yes from Luna and would be joining the others on the following Sunday after this next.

"Hey, 'Mione," said Harry, joining her by the fire.

Setting her book down, Hermione looked up at her friend with a forced smile. She had been remembering the conversation she overheard between her friend and Professor Snape with a heavy heart. For one thing, the brunette had yet to tell Harry of the disturbing things she had learned and, for another, knew that she would have to speak with the Professor at least by tomorrow for help. It didn't matter that the teen was no longer residing with his relatives. They couldn't get away with it, as Severus had said. It was that, along with the fact that Harry would be better off speaking with somebody about his past, that made Hermione all the more determined to do something about it.

"Something wrong?" he asked, breaking Hermione's reverie.

"No," she quickly lied, not wanting him to worry. "I'm just trying to decide what I should write about for my Ancient Runes essay."

"You know that's not even due for another two weeks, don't you?" Harry asked amusedly, letting the small lie to pass for now.

"Please, this is Hermione we're talking about," said Dean, who had clearly finished his conversation with Ginny and Neville as all three had approached them.

"Yeah, I'm surprised she hasn't finished it already," Ginny teased.

"Very funny," Hermione said dryly, a small frown upon her face.

"C'mon," Dean laughed, "We're only joking."

"She knows that," Harry chucked at the look his friend was giving him.

"I can answer for myself, thank you very much," she informed him playfully.

"I'm off to bed," Neville spoke up once the teasing subsided. "You two coming?" he asked Harry and Dean.

They both nodded and Harry tiredly stood from his previous seat beside the fireplace. He then offered a hand to Hermione in order to help her up as well.

"Don't forget about our 'date' Weasley," Dean told the red-head, messing around.

"I would never," Ginny went along with it.

"Night, guys," Neville said, following the darker boy out of the common room and up the small flight of stairs.

"Goodnight," they all replied. Hermione then turned to Harry and gave him a small hug, something that had become a nightly affair.

Smiling warmly at his best friend, Harry bid the girls goodnight and took off after the other two teens.

"Want to walk up together?" Ginny asked; turning to Hermione after the boys had left.

"Sure," she agreed, lacing her arm through the youngest Weasley's, going up to their respective dormitories.

…

Bright and early the next morning, Harry found himself out at the quidditch pitch along with many other of his house-mates who were all determined to make the team this year.

Unfortunately, he couldn't take them all and had the horrible pleasure of informing those who did not make the team, why. The only upside was when Harry got to make the day of those who had managed to earn a spot.

Those students were: Katie Bell (the only person, along with Harry who had managed to keep their place on the team), Ginny Weasley and Demelza Robins (replacing Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet from last year), Jimmy Peakes and Ritchie Coote were chosen as beaters, and Dean Thomas had been picked for keeper. Cormac McLaggen, much to Hermione and Ginny's pleasure, did not make the cut.

"Thanks, Harry," Katie came up to him as tryouts ended. "I know you didn't have to keep me on the team-"

"Katie, you earned it, trust me," Ginny commented, standing beside her friend.

"So did you," Bell patted her on the shoulder and gave Harry a grateful smile before trailing off after Dean, whom she had seemed rather cozy with as of late.

"They'd make a good couple," Ginny thought, watching her other friends walk away. "Don't you think?"

Harry looked back at her in surprise. He hadn't expected her to be over Thomas so soon. "I suppose," he answered a few moments later.

"They would," the girl decided, "Just like two other people I know," she smiled knowingly at Harry, picking up her broom and walking towards the shed afterwards.

"You mean Neville and Luna?" he followed her, not catching on to who she was truly speaking of.

"Not exactly," Ginny replied, locking the old Nimbus 2000 away.

"Then who-" Harry suddenly became tinged with scarlet as he realized who she meant.

The red-head merely laughed and left her friend alone to his thoughts, making her way back up to the castle.

'Perceptive brat,' Harry thought to himself before mounting his Firebolt once more, deciding to fly around for a bit before his meeting with Remus to be held later that day.

…

While her friend was roaming the skies, Hermione could be found standing outside the Potions Master's door.

Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the heavy wooden door, waiting for the man open it.

"Miss Granger," Severus greeted her with a sneer upon his face.

"Sir," she began quickly, not wanting the Professor to send her away. "I need to speak with you," Hermione told him.

"Surely it can wait until class," Snape went to close the door, annoyed.

"It honestly can't, sir," she was begging now, "Please," the prefect looked at him sincerely, standing her ground all the same. "It's important."

"Oh?" he questioned, a bit snidely.

Hermione nodded, "It's-" she hesitated, "It's about Harry, Professor," the brunette admitted. "I overheard your conversation with him yesterday," at the frustrated look Snape shot her, she quickly apologized, "I didn't intend to, I swear-"

"Come inside Miss Granger," he sighed heavily. "This is not the place to discuss it." Snape then allowed her inside, already knowing that it would be impossible to ignore her request. When Granger wanted to know something, there was truly no stopping her. Information and her friends were everything to the girl. This topic in particular just happened to include both.

Nervous, but more so determined, Hermione went in. She pushed all feelings of guilt aside momentarily, already mentally agreeing to talk about this with Harry that night, once it was too late for him to stop her. At least this way she could help him and still not be keeping any secrets.

Either way, this was something she had to do.

**A/N:**Whew…eleven pages later and chapter twenty-three is finally complete!

Please, let me know what you thought of it :)

As long as you'd like me to, I'll update as soon as I can.

Thank you to: dbzgtfan2004, god of all, NorthernLights25, pawsrule, and TsukiyoTenshi for reviewing since the last time I posted. You have no idea how much it means to me to hear from you all.

Well, hope to see you soon!


	24. Chapter 24

"_Oh you're in my veins_

_And I cannot get you out…_

_Oh you're all I taste,_

_At night inside of my mouth_

_Oh you run away, _

_Cause I am not what you found_

_Oh you're in my veins…_

_And I cannot get you out"_

_-In My Veins, by Andrew Belle_

Chapter 24: Forgive, but Never Forget

Disclaimer: I own the plotline, but I'm afraid that's all.

Okay, so maybe Granger had advised that she give her two friends some space…well, it just wasn't going to happen. Lunch had just passed, and again, Pansy was left sitting by herself. She couldn't allow this to turn into a daily affair. Besides, Slytherins were all about house unity, right? 'Yes,' she mentally agreed as Blaise and Draco entered the common room. Now was the time to make her move.

"Come to apologize?" she asked the blonde upon standing up to meet him. 'That came out entirely wrong,' Pansy berated herself for speaking so harshly.

"No," Draco spat back as the girl had expected, "Now if you'd be so kind as to stand out of my way-"

"That's it," Blaise cut off his friend's sarcastic rant. "I'm not dealing with another fight this week," he put his hands up and began back towards the exit, "So, until you two sort this out," he paused, thinking of a good threat, "Don't bother speaking to me."

Sure, the warning wasn't that great, but right now the brown-eyed boy remained all the other two had for company.

"Fine," Malfoy rashly agreed, catching his mate off guard. By the look on Zabini's face, he clearly hadn't planned for that answer.

"Draco, please," Pansy resorted to begging, something she typically reserved for her parents whenever she'd wanted something they refused her.

Blaise merely stood between the duo awkwardly, not wanting to leave his girlfriend in her current state of distress despite his past anger.

"If it helps any, I did manage to get some information for you," the girl continued when the blonde remained silent. Parkinson had decided to take that as a good sign and thereafter began channeling her inner Slytherin. With a bit of a smirk she added, "I'd be glad to let you in on it," the brunette looked away with fake sadness, "if only you were speaking to me…"

Malfoy sighed, evidently frustrated and conflicted. He knew the prefect all too well and was therefore aware of the game she was playing. Blaise's snickering definitely wasn't helping his inner debate either.

"I was only trying to be a good friend," Pansy proceeded as the boys still held quiet (much to her annoyance). "I know now that what I did maybe wasn't the best idea, regardless of my intentions," she admitted, causing Draco to scoff at her. "But I wouldn't take it back," Parkinson let him know. Then, when the teen at her front shot her a nasty glare, she went into further explanation. "You've liked her since our fourth year, Dray," she began, refraining from calling the red-head 'Weaselette' for now. "Since that night at the Yule Ball, you've turned down any other girl who came your way. And I just want you to finally be happy," she stated truthfully, much to the other's surprise (she was hardly the sentimental type of girl who shared feelings and talked of unicorns). "It's been two years now…" Pansy looked into the grey eyes watching her, "I didn't mean for all of this to happen," she finished, sounding much more vulnerable than before.

After several moments of uncomfortable silence surpassed them, Blaise was the first to break the tension amongst the trio.

Without saying anything, the darker teen pulled Pansy into his arms, not being able to hold a grudge against his girlfriend any longer.

"Thanks, love," she whispered into his ear as she quickly wrapped her arms about his neck.

"Don't mention it," was his short response before Zabini pulled away and placed a small kiss upon her forehead. The couple then turned to Draco expectantly.

"Couldn't that have waited?" he asked halfheartedly, feigning disgust at their previous display.

Pansy simply laughed in relief and playfully pushed Blaise away when he tried kissing her again to get at their friend.

"Forgive me?" she asked, taking a step towards Draco, her blue eyes shining with hope.

Malfoy shook his head, "You do know you're insane, right?"

Normally, Parkinson would've taken offense to that, but today she chose to hug the blonde rather than hit or tease him.

"Okay, okay," Malfoy patted her back, "that's enough," he tried telling the girl who had him in a near death grip.

And while Pansy didn't apologize for almost choking him, she did let go of her best friend. "So, Thomas and Weaselette broke it off," she eagerly informed Draco as he massaged his now-sore neck.

"Are you sure?" he asked, looking to be a mixture of both shock and disbelief.

"Wait," Blaise cut in before Parkinson could respond. "Before she tells you everything, I want in on this deal," he told them, referring to the one they'd made about her not being able to share the new information with Malfoy so long as they weren't speaking.

"What?" they inquired in unison, equally curious.

"You two have to promise not to put me through this again," he started seriously.

"What are you going on about?" Draco asked while Pansy stood by his side just as confused.

Zabini rolled his eyes, "Ever since we arrived here this year, you two have done nothing but go at it with each other," he informed them before getting to the point. "No more fighting, alright? I'm sick of it. I was this close to going mad," he over exaggerated by holding two of his fingers less than an inch apart.

Malfoy and Parkinson each had the decency to appear slightly embarrassed by their actions and silently agreed to accept Blaise's end of the deal.

"Well, go on then," Blaise ordered as the opposite two had yet to carry on with their previous conversation.

"Oh, right," Pansy shook her head and turned back to Draco. "Well, Granger told me…"

And so she went on relaying her earlier discussion with Hermione, pleased with the new-found normalcy amongst her and the boys.

…

"Ah, Harry," Remus greeted the young raven-haired teen into his office. "I wondered when you'd show up," he smiled.

Harry smiled back, yet more so sheepishly as he'd been late. "Sorry," he said, making his way to the sofa held within the left side of the room, "I went flying-"

"Well, that explains it," the professor followed his suit and took a seat beside him, "You are so much like your father," Lupin chuckled in thought.

"Except for the eyes," Harry couldn't help but to joke. He'd just been so stressed lately. His words were nothing more than a feeble attempt for a much needed laugh.

"So, how have you been?" the older man asked once they'd sobered up.

"Alright, I suppose," he shrugged, not wanting to give yesterday's events much thought.

Lupin looked disappointed, "You are a very poor liar, Harry, I'm sure you know that."

The Gryffindor looked away shamefully and debated whether or not he should tell Remus about his Occulemency incident with Snape. "I don't want to talk about it," he quickly made up his mind. There was just no way Harry could allow one of his only adult friends to see him as weak.

Remus sighed. He'd been expecting that. "I've noticed you and Mr. Malfoy haven't been at each other's throats this term," he pointed out, hoping the change in topic would shake the boy out of his surly mood.

However, Harry's expression only turned darker. "Yeah, a lot of things have changed this year."

Lupin, not being daft by any means, quickly caught on to the empty words hanging about the room. "You've all been doing so well with moving on," he informed the teen. "I hope you will not let the actions of others to sway you from such a progressive path," Remus cautioned.

Harry ran a hand through his unruly hair, "I know," he confessed, "it's just…" how could he put it? With his animosity towards Snape, frustration against Malfoy, and confused feelings about Hermione…Harry wasn't sure how to describe the way he felt these days.

"You don't have to explain anything to me," Lupin put a comforting hand on his best friend's, godson's shoulder. "Just know that I'm here if you ever do wish to talk."

Still feeling slightly guilty for how their short meeting turned out, Harry thanked him and promised to eventually take Remus up on his offer.

So, for the time being, the two decided to speak of much lighter subjects.

"How are things with Tonks?" Harry asked.

In that moment, Lupin wished he had pried harder for the teen to open up.

…

About an hour before supper was to start, Hermione found herself pacing before the entrance to her house's common room. She'd just finished speaking with Professor Snape, and to be honest, the girl could barely recall managing to walk all the way up to the tower.

At first, the potion's master had been angry with the prefect for having heard his private discussion with Potter. It wasn't until later that Granger made him see how she didn't mean to eavesdrop at all and that she was merely concerned for her best friend.

Eventually, after about half an hour, the two had reached a compromise of sorts. Hermione would convince Harry to see the headmaster about his relatives and Snape would allow for her to join them.

…Well, that is if she could get Harry's forgiveness for going behind his back again.

Hermione inwardly groaned. Why did her life have to be so complicated? What with the Slytherins change in attitude, Ginny's dilemma with Malfoy, her actually getting detentions this year…and the absence of Ron; she would surely be losing her head soon.

"Forget the password?" somebody asked, breaking her reverie. Startled, the brunette looked up quickly only to see Neville who must have made his way towards her whilst she was distracted.

"Neville!" she caught her breath, "No," Hermione answered, recalling his question, "I was just thinking, is all."

The taller teen looked as if he was going to pry his classmate for more details on that, but let the matter momentarily drop as he switched the topic. "Figured as much," he grinned at her, "Usually it's me who forgets the passwords."

She let out a relieved laugh, "I should hope that's no longer the case as you're meant to always know it now."

Neville shook his head, "Yeah, I don't know what Professor McGonagall was thinking when she chose me to be a prefect."

"Don't say that," Hermione berated him, "You're great at it," she complimented, in spite of what he thought.

"Um, thanks," he smiled weakly. It wasn't often that he was spoken highly of so Neville was uncertain if he should say something nice back.

After thinking about it, "We have rounds tonight, yeah?" was what he ended up saying instead.

"Yes, actually," Hermione replied, freeing Neville of his inner conflict. "Would you like to meet in the common room around eight?" she asked.

"Sure," he nodded his head, "I'll see you then."

It was after those words that Neville turned to the Fat Lady's portrait and asked Hermione if she knew the password.

…

"Harry, wait," Hermione called after her friend as he was about to join the other boys for bed that night. She walked over to where he stood by the spiral staircase and continued, "I need to speak with you about something."

"Oh," he looked back at Neville who was waiting behind him, "I'll be up later," Harry told him.

"I'm actually waiting for Hermione," he admitted.

"We have prefect duties tonight," the girl explained upon noticing Harry's confused expression. "Do you mind waiting upstairs for a moment, Neville?" she asked politely.

"Sure," he went along with it, "ten minutes?"

"Yes, that will do," Hermione agreed.

"Alright," Neville smiled tiredly and turned away.

"Thank you!" she put in as he left.

"I'll wake him when I go up," Harry let her know after the other boy was out of earshot.

Although she was feeling completely stressed on the inside, Hermione managed a small laugh at that. "I'd appreciate it."

The two then ventured over to their favorite spot in the common room, which left them both sitting on a soft maroon rug before the fireplace.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Harry asked after a few moments of utter silence went by. He'd expected her to say something by now.

"Look, Harry," she took a breath, unsure of how to say this. "I overheard your conversation with Professor Snape that day we were all out at the lake," Hermione decided bluntness would be best at this point.

Emerald eyes widened in horror and held a gleam of denial within them.

"I didn't mean to," she went on quickly, not wanting to permanently wreck their friendship. The fights they'd had so far this year were already too many. "I was-"

"It doesn't matter," Harry cut her off. "I don't want to talk about it," he then tried to stand up.

Hermione, however, wouldn't allow him to do so. She didn't want a repeat of last year where the other Gryffindor avoided her and Ron at all costs, refusing to tell either of them anything. It would be so much worse this time if Harry chose to revert back to that as she no longer had the red-head for company.

"Harry, please," she pulled him back down. "I know you're upset-"

"I don't want to talk about it, Hermione," he repeated, more forcefully this time.

"But you need to," she tried telling him.

"No, I don't!" he snapped, finally getting up. There were many things…almost everything, he'd share with her, but this was just too personal for Harry to speak of with anybody.

"I don't want to fight with you-"

"Then don't ask me to talk about this," he told Hermione simply.

"I'm sorry," she shook her head, "but I have to," the brunette stood as well. "You need to speak with Professor Dumbledore-"

"Why?" he interrupted her once more, "I don't live with them anymore," Harry impatiently pointed out, "So what does it matter?"

"Harry, they shouldn't be allowed to get away with whatever they did to you," Hermione stated firmly, tears still spilling into her caramel colored eyes. While she didn't know the details, the sixth year was intelligent enough to know they were far from pleasant. The way her friend returned to Hogwarts each year looking so thin and worn…she didn't know why she hadn't acted on this sooner.

About to fight her on that, Harry's anger dissipated the second he realized the girl before him was about to cry. "Mione-" he was about to apologize for shouting at her when she decided to speak again.

"Just promise me you'll go with Professor Snape tomorrow evening to talk with Dumbledore," Hermione pleaded again. "I'll come too, if you'd like," she added, hoping he'd agree to those terms.

Harry sighed. He didn't want another fight, but going to the headmaster with this was something he couldn't see himself doing. Dumbledore had more important matters to deal with at the moment. The man was to die by the end of the year for Merlin's sake, Harry thought. Surely the last thing he wanted was to hear his sob story.

Being able to read her friend like a book, Hermione broke his train of thought. "Professor Dumbledore cares for you very much, Harry," she reminded him. "He'd want to know about this."

Harry thought about that and instantly realized Hermione was right. Hell, when wasn't she? Still, he truly didn't want to do this; especially with Snape in the same room.

"I'll go with you," Hermione told him again. "It'll be okay," she tried assuring him.

Looking into her eyes, he knew denying her request would be impossible, despite his wishes. Hermione's eyes were sad, yet filled with so much hope that he couldn't turn her down.

"Alright," he reluctantly agreed.

Hermione beamed and wiped a stray tear from her face. "Thank you," she said almost inaudibly before pulling him into a tight embrace. The shorter teen was just happy that Harry hadn't decided to push her away again. Finally, he was letting somebody in and she couldn't be more grateful that the person in question was her.

After standing comfortably within each other's arms for several minutes, it was a loud crashing sound that quickly broke the two apart, much to Harry's displeasure.

"S-sorry," Neville stuttered, pathetically attempting to regain his composure. Obviously, he'd caught his friends in the middle of a 'moment' and tried to sneak back into his dormitory without success. The fallen desk to his left was evidence of that. "The ten minutes had passed and so I thought I'd come down…" he drifted off.

"Right," Hermione quickly walked over to him. "We really should be going," she went on, her cheeks red. She'd never hugged Harry for so long before and was clearly embarrassed to be caught doing so now. "I'll see you tomorrow," Hermione told him, practically dragging a very confused Neville off afterwards.

…

Fifteen minutes passed by until Harry was able to make his way upstairs, as he was left just as much, if not more so, bewildered as his dorm-mate.

…

Down in the Slytherin common room, Draco could be found sitting alone by a window that held a perfect view of the lake (as each one did).

Currently, he was reading a letter sent to him from his mother. It read:

_Draco, _

_I apologize for not having written to you sooner, but as you can imagine, I haven't had much spare time as of late. _

_Moving out of the Manor proved more difficult than I originally thought it would be…but no matter. It is done now, so you need not wonder of the progress being made there anymore. _

_Aside from that, living with my cousin is exactly as I had anticipated. Sirius has to be one of the most uncouth adults I have ever had the displeasure of associating with. He is untidy, ill-mannered, and completely disrespectful. _

_However, do not worry for me, Draco. I am perfectly capable of managing him, I assure you. _

_In fact, by the time you visit for the holiday, expect a change for the better in regards to his behavior. I simply will not live with a man whom insists on acting as if he were still a child. _

_You do still intend to see your mother over winter break, yes?_

_I hope so, darling, for I miss you terribly. _

_I send you all my love._

Draco had laughed numerous times upon reading Narcissa's letter. Black had his hands full, of that much he was certain.

…

Harry was just about to drift off into the world of unconsciousness when a soft tapping noise came from the window beside his bed. Half-asleep, the raven-haired teen quietly made his way over to the clear colored glass and let Hedwig in so that she could give him his letter.

"Thanks, girl," he petted the owl for a moment before tearing into the letter from his godfather.

_Harry, _

_I'm glad you kept to your promise and remembered to write. _

_Yes, I did know Remus would be returning to his post this year. I kept it from you as I wanted it to be a surprise. And, trust me, it wasn't easy. _

_Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes is, without a doubt, the best place I have ever worked at. _

_(Okay, so maybe it's one of the only, but never matter)_

_I'll agree with you though. Those pygmy puffs are almost as annoying as Kreacher…but I'm sure Lyra isn't as bad you claim her to be. And honestly, did you expect me not to laugh at that? It's like you don't even know me, Harry. _

_As for coming up with any new ideas, you will just have to wait until Christmas to see what I have planned, I'm afraid. _

_That is fitting, after all, since I have to wait to hear about why, in Merlin's name, you had to meet with Snivellus. _

_Alright, so I will be honest with you. I did know that my cousin and her son would be joining us at number twelve. I'd apologize for this, but I didn't want to further upset you this summer. _

_If it makes you feel any better, Narcissa is has been nothing short of a nightmare. So, you shouldn't feel obligated to be angry with me as I'm already serving out my punishment here with her. The woman isn't as bad as living in Azkaban…but I swear there are days where I almost miss my solitude there. _

_Don't fret, though, kiddo. I promise that those two won't get in our way of having a good time. In fact, it'll be like they don't live there at all. We can just ignore them, how about that?_

…_You and Miss Granger, eh? I can't say that I didn't see this one coming. Perhaps we should have I talk when you arrive. _

_Until then, write back soon, alright?_

_Padfoot_

_Oh, and congratulations about making quidditch captain. I know your father would be proud._

Harry smiled at that last sentence and began writing his response letter, deciding to tell Sirius about his renewed Occulemency lessons to be held with Snape.

Then, after shipping Hedwig off into the starry night sky, just as he was finally about to fall asleep, Lyra began to sing.

**A/N: **Hey guys!

Okay, let me start off by saying how sorry I am for the major delay.

If you read what was meant to be chapter twenty-four, but was actually a note from me, then you'll understand what took me so long.

Forgive me? :)

Anyways, thank you to: god of all, pawsrule, TsukiyoTenshi, and NorthernLights25, for reviewing since my last update! It really does mean a lot to me.

For those of you who have read this chapter, please let me know what you thought of it.

Feedback is my motivation!

**Until then...**


	25. Chapter 25

"_Who do you think you are?_

_Runnin' round leaving scars_

_Collecting your jar of hearts…_

_And tearing love apart"_

_-Jar of Hearts, by Christina Perri _

Chapter 25: Making All the Wrong Moves

Past disclaimers apply.

Monday evening, after a rather long day's worth of classes, Harry, Hermione, Luna, Neville, Ginny, Blaise, Pansy, and Draco all found themselves standing within the potion's classroom for the second time that day as they were now meant to be serving out their detentions.

"Now," Snape began after the door had shut behind the group of fifth/sixth years. "You will all be split into pairs of two," he went on, eying each of his students carefully, "the punishments shall be different, yet equal, so I expect no complaints," the professor then paused for a response.

"Yes, sir," the group agreed, some less enthusiastically than others.

"The pairs are to be as follows," Severus proceeded after approving of their answers, "Potter and Miss Lovegood," he instructed the duo to a table in the center of the room, "you shall each be scrubbing cauldrons."

Harry sighed whilst Luna remained impassive and walked over to the grimy pot-like containers.

"Longbottom and Mr. Zabini," he directed the boys towards several chisels upon his desk, "the two of you are to scrape underneath each of the desks."

Blaise scrunched up his face in disgust as Neville silently walked over and grabbed the instruments, too frightened of the professor to complain.

"Miss Granger and Miss Parkinson," he continued dishing out their punishments, "I expect my stores re-stocked in alphabetical order by the time these two hours reach their end."

Hermione looked over at the other girl. They each quietly agreed to make their way into the large cupboard at that moment, feeling relieved by what they were sent to do. Out of all the orders so far, the female prefects definitely got let off easy.

"Miss Weasley and Mr. Malfoy," he finished up with his godson and the Weasley girl, "There are two mortars and pestles in the back of this room, along with several different types of blades," Snape pointed out before proceeding, "The ingredients beside these instruments are to be correctly cut and bottled away before this detention concludes. Am I clear?" Yes, the man trusted his godson completely with his precious ingredients. It was the red-head he was less certain of.

"Yes, professor," Ginny replied simply. She then made her way over to the station, hating whom she had been set up with.

After that, Draco warily followed, leaving Severus to return back to his desk in order to grade past assignments.

…

"This isn't so bad," Luna told her partner as she slipped on one of the pairs of yellow gloves that had been set out before each of them.

"We haven't started yet, Luna," Harry pointed out.

"Oh, I know," the petite teen informed him with her soft voice, "but if you think negatively, the flitter-wigs will come for you."

Harry nearly dropped the glove he'd been in the process of putting on. "The what?" he asked.

"Flitter-wigs," Luna looked to the boy beside her with her pale blue eyes, "the can sense negativity," she said as if that explained everything.

"What do they look like?" he inquired curiously.

The blonde grabbed hold of a scrubbing brush and poured some cleanser into one of the many cauldrons. "They are quite small," she began, "so small that you wouldn't be able to see them without special binoculars."

'Of course,' Harry thought amusedly.

"According to daddy," Luna continued, oblivious to what her friend was thinking, "flitter-wigs are bronze-colored with five legs, two arms, and only one eye to see with. This is probably because they use their sense of smell more than their sense for sight," she elaborated whilst polishing the dish held between her fair-skinned hands.

"What do they do?" he wondered aloud, joining her by beginning to clean as well.

"Eat hair," she bluntly stated. "This is why many older witches and wizards go bald," Luna said truthfully (or so she thought). "Most adults aren't as optimistic as they used to be."

Harry, never quite being one for optimism, prayed that these creatures weren't real.

…

"Ugh, what in Merlin's name is that?" Blaise asked the prefect opposite him as they peered beneath one of the desks.

"I'm not sure," Neville responded honestly, "Maybe it's some sort of mold," he offered.

"I've never heard of white mold before, Longbottom," Zabini pointed out.

"You don't think it's…" the brunette couldn't finish his own sentence out of sheer embarrassment.

"Well, there is no way I am going anywhere near that," Blaise made up his mind.

Neville sighed in defeat, knowing he would be the one to clean that gob of bodily fluid off. Never in his life had he wished so much for the power to turn invisible.

…

"Could we have been more fortunate?" Pansy rhetorically asked the bushy-haired brunette at her side. "All of the others have repulsive punishments to serve out," she said before adding a sympathetic, "Poor Blaise…"

Hermione, who was slightly taken aback by Parkinson's decision to open up with her, gathered her thoughts and smoothly responded, "I know. This is much better than having to scrape the bottom of desks."

Pansy nodded her head in agreement before looking thoughtfully over at Granger. "I wanted to thank you for the advice you gave me the other day," she let the other girl know quite seriously. "It worked," the shorter teen's full-sized lips gave off half a smile.

"I'm glad," Hermione replied sincerely, having known all too well what it felt like to be isolated from those she cared about. "But there's no need to thank me," she put in, arranging a jar of dung beetles so that they came before the one filled with earwigs.

"Why not?" Parkinson asked, having found it only right to do so.

Granger sighed and turned to face Pansy. "Because, that's what friends do, isn't it? Give advice to each other," she elaborated when the Slytherin shot her a look of misunderstanding.

It took Pansy a moment to process the words Hermione had said before hesitantly accepting them. 'Sure, why not?' the girl thought. 'Granger is as good a friend as Millicent,' she figured. It was true, after all, at this point. Hermione had been just as useful and better at confiding in versus Bulstrode. Still, if anybody had come to her last year saying that she and this Gryffindor would become mates soon, Parkinson would've slapped them straight.

Slightly comforted by the fact that Pansy had agreed when she'd said they were friends, Hermione got back to work, occasionally talking with the other girl about various matters.

…

"This is impossible!" Ginny shouted as loudly as a whisper would allow for her to. For the past twenty minutes she'd been trying to slice some valerian roots, but soon found it extremely difficult as the stupid things proved tough to cut through.

"That's because you're using the wrong knife," Draco corrected her and held out the smaller piece of pointed silver she was supposed to be using.

The red-head snatched it from the blonde without so much as a thank you and got back to the task at hand. She really wasn't up for having to deal with Malfoy right now. Earlier that day, Michael Corner had asked her out in the midst of their lunch break, allowing nearly all of her year-mates to overhear. So, then, when she'd rejected his offer, each and every one of them deemed her cruel and heartless. Seriously, it wasn't her fault that Michael was an obsessive pervert.

Lost in her own world, seconds later it was a warm hand upon her own that snapped Ginny away from her upsetting flashback.

"Are you trying to chop your finger off?" Malfoy questioned her harshly, having pulled her hand away from the piece of root she'd been about to slice.

Looking down, however, Ginny realized that it wasn't a piece of the valerian at all, but rather her forefinger instead. She paled at what had very nearly taken place.

"Try to be more careful, won't you?" the older teen scolded her, having just been nearly scared to death by what would've happened had he not noticed.

Ginny was about to nod her head affirmatively when she suddenly remembered just whom was speaking to her. While the fifth year didn't know Malfoy that well personally, the things her brother had to say about him were far from pleasant. In fact, just knowing that the Slytherin had caused Ron problems was enough to make the girl hate him without any formal introductions being needed.

"Shove off, Malfoy," Ginny ground out rudely, regardless of the fact that he'd previously saved her finger from a terrible fate.

Draco released the pestle in his hand and looked at the ginger in sheer annoyance. "What's your problem?" he asked her, honestly wanting to know. He had yet to do a single solitary thing so to purposefully upset this Weasley and she still felt the need to be hostile towards him.

"You," she spat with much venom, wanting nothing more than for Malfoy to shut up and leave her alone. "All year you've done nothing but stare at me and then when I finally confront you about it you deny your actions," she ranted angrily.

"So that's why you're acting this way?" Draco asked disbelievingly, "Because you think I've been looking at you?"

"No," Ginny snapped and turned to face him, "I don't 'think' you've been watching me, I know it for a fact," she started, about to lose her temper completely. "And what gives you the right to do that?" she demanded. "You've been nothing short of a prat towards my brother and his friends," the youngest Weasley couldn't stop herself, "I'm not going to try and understand your new relationship with Harry and Hermione," she crudely admitted, "But what's with your sudden interest in me?"

Malfoy remained silent at that, knowing that there would be no right answer.

"Oh, so now you've got nothing to say?" the Gryffindor shook her head, thoroughly frustrated. "Fine," she huffed, "mind at least telling me why you sent Parkinson after Hermione that night?" Ginny still wanted to know.

"I didn't ask Pansy to do that," Draco spoke the truth. He then got back to chopping up pieces of wiggenbush bark so as to avoid her piercing gaze.

"Somehow I just don't believe you," she told him, bottling a bit of the now-successfully sliced valerian root.

"Not that I'd expected you to," the blonde muttered, slightly aggravated.

Ginny scoffed, "Then why would Parkinson want to know who I am or am not dating?" she pried, "I've only ever seen her associate herself with you and Zabini, and I'm pretty sure he couldn't care less about that."

"So, you're under the impression that I do?" Malfoy countered.

"Well, why on earth would either of them seriously want to know?"

"Have you tried asking Pansy?"

"Why ask her when you're standing right here?"

"Because I'm not the one who spoke to Granger," Draco bickered back. He and Ginny were each cutting up their designated ingredients with much force, both appearing to be entirely at their wits end.

"Yet you've still avoided all of my questions."

"No, actually, I haven't."

"Then explain why you've been stalking me ever since the welcoming feast," the red-head demanded.

"That's an accusation, hardly a question," Malfoy pointed out, not wanting to own up to anything.

Ginny looked up from the knife in her hand, fuming, "Would you just-OUCH!" she suddenly shrieked. The shrill sound brought everyone's attention to her, including Draco's. When the pureblood shifted his eyes down towards what his partner was staring at, he felt suddenly faint and immediately wished that he hadn't looked at all.

The youngest Weasley slowly held up her shaking hand in shock. While her thumb hadn't been severed completely, the limb obviously came pretty close as she was able to see part of the bone.

"Ginny!" Hermione rushed out of the storage room and ran over to her friend. Once she finally made her way over, the Professor (who had gotten there first) could be found muttering spells to slow the rapid blood loss.

"Oh, god," Neville breathed out, nearly toppling over as he caught sight of the girl's injury. Luckily, Luna had come over to take his arm, preventing the brunette from losing complete consciousness. She knew how the prefect felt about these sorts of things and instantly sought out to help him keep calm.

"Take Miss Weasley to the hospital wing," Snape instructed his godson after he'd done everything he could.

Draco nodded solemnly and carefully lead Ginny (who was too shocked to care that Malfoy had placed an arm around her shoulders) out of the classroom.

"She'll be fine," Hermione promised Harry as the opposite teen had stiffened upon watching the duo leave together.

"That was so gross," Pansy turned to Blaise for comfort, not liking the image that had been embedded into her brain. And while Zabini didn't say anything, he did take his girlfriend's hand in an attempt to reassure her.

…

"Everything is going to be okay," the blonde said more so to himself than to the girl in pain, "we're almost there," he informed her, finally nearing Madame Pomfrey.

"What happened?" Poppy asked the approaching students, ushering them inside.

"She cut her hand in detention," Malfoy frantically explained, "We were preparing potions ingredients and…" he directed the elderly woman's attention to Ginny's left hand. There, a limp thumb could be found barely hanging on.

"Can you fix it?" the fifth year had asked weakly, trying not to think about her predicament. She was already so nauseous from the pain. Looking at the limb another time would surely cause Ginny to lose her supper.

"Yes, Miss Weasley, I will be able to repair your thumb," the healer sighed. "Mr. Malfoy if you would please take her over to one of the beds I shall be there momentarily," Pomfrey added before walking away, getting back to the young Hufflepuff she'd been tending to before their arrival.

"Are you alright?" the Slytherin had asked after Poppy's newest patient sat down.

Ginny, being in too much discomfort for fighting, merely rolled her eyes and didn't bother with telling him what a stupid question that had been.

Malfoy rubbed his face tiredly, "I did tell you to try and be more careful," he reprimanded her.

"Oh, shut it," Ginny said though clenched teeth. She'd never been hurt so badly. The throbbing, stinging, burning pain was all she could think about.

"I'd apologize, but this is still your fault," Draco tried getting her mind off of it. Perhaps angering the Weasley would serve as a good distraction. This tactic had certainly proven successful earlier when she should've been watching the blade before her.

"Maybe if you hadn't been such a git earlier and would have just answered my question-"

"I already told you," Malfoy interrupted her, "that wasn't a-"

"I swear, if you tell me that one more time I'll hex you as soon as Pomfrey fixes my hand," Ginny warned, looking at the boy seated beside her on the hospital bed.

"Well isn't someone being sensitive," he didn't back down.

"You don't know when to quit, do you?" the girl ground out.

"I'm not scared of you, Weasley," Malfoy secretly lied.

"You won't be saying that tomorrow," she managed a smirk in spite of her pain.

"Is that a threat?" Draco inquired.

"No," Ginny corrected, "it's a promise."

"Alright dear, let me see it," Madame Pomfrey finally finished with the second year and made her way back over to the Gryffindor before the blonde could say anything more.

Poppy soon after muttered several incantations before handing Ginny a serving of skele-grow for the bit of bone she'd managed to break into.

"It won't be necessary for you to remain here overnight, Miss Weasley," the healer informed the fifteen year old. "But do try and be more cautious when working with sharp utensils," she advised, "I'd like to see less of Potter and his friends this year if you don't mind."

Malfoy had snickered at that causing Ginny to shoot him yet another glare that night. Then, ignoring the display, Poppy retreated back to work, leaving the two free to go.

"You know," the red-head began as she and Draco exited the hospital wing, "now that my hand's been healed, I could just curse you right here." Ginny stopped midway down the hall they'd been walking down and looked at the Slytherin quite seriously.

"And why would you do that?" Malfoy stayed behind as well.

"Why not?" she challenged.

"Well, being that I haven't done anything-"

"Haven't done anything?" Ginny repeated venomously, "Not only did you feel the need to torture my brother every year in the past," she began ranting tersely, "it seems like now that he's dead you've decided to go after me in his place."

Draco felt the need to rectify her words before allowing the youngest Weasley to continue, "I have my reasons for what I did back then," he enlightened her, "and I've honestly done nothing against you this term, let alone any of the ones before it."

"I know all about your 'reasons', Malfoy," she admitted as Hermione had told her a while ago. "They don't change anything," Ginny crossed her arms.

"Why are you being so stubborn?" he asked, beginning to lose all patience with her. Draco didn't even bother to ask how she had known about that, figuring Potter told Granger who clearly passed the information on.

"I'm not nearly as forgiving as Hermione," she harshly let him know. "She may be able to let go of the past, but that is something I don't intend to do," Ginny made up her mind. Originally, she'd considered this option on behalf of the prefect, but now any inner debate was over with. It had been settled. Never would she forgive the Slytherin who'd accompanied her to the infirmary. "Now why don't you just leave me alone before I decide not to go back on my promise," Ginny suggested, referring to the hex she'd earlier vowed to shoot his way.

"No," Draco foolishly didn't take the offer. This caused the Weasley girl to pull out her wand without hesitation. "Do you still want to know why I've been looking at you this year?" figuring it was now or never, he finally decided to come out with the truth. After today, the blonde knew there would be no way in hell she'd so much as allow him to be anywhere near her.

Caught off guard, Ginny slightly lowered the wand she had raised. "I'm listening," she replied coolly, wanting to get this over with.

Malfoy looked apprehensive and for a moment thought about simply walking away, but clearly chose against it as he spoke up again, "For two years now, I've liked you," he stated bluntly, instantly feeling ignorant for his choice of words. Never were you supposed to come out and say that to a girl. It made you look stupid.

Ginny, however, did not appear as surprised as he'd imagined she would be. "Is this some sort of sick joke?" she rudely asked. With Hermione's help, the red-head had easily put two and two together and managed to guess something along these lines. In short, she knew that the Slytherin either truly liked her or was planning to pull one on her. Obviously, she'd assumed the latter.

Draco had been expecting that. "No," he answered truthfully. "This isn't something I would lie about."

"And why should I believe you?" Ginny refused to accept his words.

Not knowing what else to say at this point, Malfoy acted on the only thing he was able to think of that could possibly change her mind.

He kissed her.

**A/N: **Hey guys!

Thanks to TsukiyoTenshi & ShortieJ for reviewing :)

Hopefully I'll get to update again next weekend. I just need to know if that's something you all would like for me to do.

So, give me your thoughts, okay?

**Until then…**


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